Eavesdropping on a Woman’s Dilemma: A Review of Some Girl I Used To Know

Anders Anglesey went to see the one-woman show, Some Girl I Used To Know, starring Denise van Outen at the West Yorkshire Playhouse …

Past flames will always catch up with you. Even when you build a new life with another person fond memories entice you back for one more chance to feel love, the way you experienced it for the first time.

This is Stephanie Canworth’s (Denise van Outen) dilemma, after first love Sean re-enters her life after ‘poking’ her on Facebook. Set in a London hotel room, Some Girl I Used To Know follows Stephanie as she navigates her way through her teenage memories, while at the same time questioning her current relationship with her husband, Paul.

Neither Sean nor Paul appear on stage. They communicate exclusively with Stephanie through raunchy texts and social media messages or via unsupportive phone calls. This is Some Girl I Used To Know’s main issue.

With brief exceptions, most notably being when Stephanie recalls her earliest and most intimate memories with Sean, both men come across as completely one-dimensional and unlikeable, despite neither setting one foot on stage.

Though he is Stephanie’s first love, and should, at the very least, have some sort of a tender side to him, Sean is presented as overly sexualised with his only current characteristic being that he wants to shag the shows lead. And Paul, for what little we know about him, is desperate to start a family with Stephanie and plant her feet firmly in the kitchen.

Stephanie’s two main love interests may leave much to be desired, but Denise does bring a certain likeability to the show’s solo character and shows that she has a comedic talent, which is most noticeable when she breaks the fourth wall and engages with the audience. The humour throughout is TOWIE-esque, filled with sexual innuendo and at times, fairly witty anecdotes and one-liners, but plays it safe and does not stretch the audience at any time.

The play’s songs also follow this trend and are, with exception to original song: ‘Some Girl I Used To Know’, throwbacks to the 80s and 90s, and fail to stay with you after the final curtain call. Many of the songs are separated into sections, with Stephanie delivering an anecdote or monologue that feels shoehorned in between two halves of the song. If done once this would not be an issue, however, because of its frequency it was hard to fully enjoy Denise’s voice, wondering when she would bring it to a halt and begin speaking.

This is not to say that some of the choices made by Denise and first time theatre-writer, Terry Ronald, were not enjoyable. As Stephanie recalls events from her past, some of the backing music is cut with 80s television sound bites and the hotel room, at one point, becomes a one-woman Ibiza rave, both of which help keep the performance fresh and funny.

But, despite this, the production feels off-centre. One can identify with Stephanie’s dilemma – whether to stay in a stagnating relationship, or risk it all for one passionate fling – yet, at the same time, fail to see what she finds alluring in either man. And while I did enjoy the energy and power of Denise’s voice at times none of the songs complimented it for large periods of the performance.

The show is not, by any means, a poor musical play. It is just off balance and lacks that final layer of polish.

Some Girl I Used To Know will be showing at the West Yorkshire Playhouse nightly until the 8th of Feb, prices start at £12.