Fringe Review: BEBE CAVE: SWOON, Jack Dome at Pleasance Dome

Photo credit: Sophie Holden

Bebe Cave is clearly having fun. Even when playing the drowning, 1851 Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood muse of the painting, Ophelia. She is everywhere on the stage of Jack Dome at the Pleasance - cracking jokes, swapping characters and sort of … educating? Bebe Cave: Swoon is a raucous hour of relentless comedy and a whistle stop tour of the treatment of women during the 1800s, only to realise that not so much has changed.

Cave embodies the fictional sister Bertrude, of Elizabeth (Lizzie) Siddal, the woman appearing in the painting Ophelia by John Everett Millais. She flits between characters but mostly Lizzie is a mildly terrifying looking mannequin who is inexplicably scouse. Through a myriad of jokes - from the high brow all the way to referencing Lost Marys, Cave guides us through the roles of women and their impossible beauty standards back in the day.

It is comic genius and smart writing that keeps your head above water with the bombardment of historical details. Cave charts the formation of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, a group of three artists aiming to restore art to its former glory, which is, according to Cave, sickly, drowning women. It’s tough to argue given the artistic evidence. There are roughly a thousand different characters in Cave’s slightly delirious one-woman show which she mercilessly multi-roles through via the medium of headgear. Wigs, hats, glasses, you name it - she is hilarious.

The set is a key instrument in the carnage. Cave is constantly racing through several golden gilded frames as she dons the next hat to switch into Rossetti or Millais or the man from the pub that Bertrude works at. If you’re not too hot on the former two names, then one immersive hour with Cave will have you caught right up to speed.

A romp of a performance, Cave leaves no stone unturned: the Brontë sisters feature to castigate Margot Robbie and her Yorkshire accent, George Sampson (via a hat of course) makes an appearance, and even Britain and Ireland’s Next Top Model gets a look in. It is an ambitious whirlwind of a show full of humour and passion. For something different and completely bonkers at the Fringe, Cave is one to watch.

**** Four stars

Reviewed by: Hannah Goldswain

Bebe Cave: Swoon plays at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe until 30 Aug, with further info here.