EDINBURGH 2016 - Review: ADVENTURES OF A REDHEADED COFFEESHOP GIRL, Gilded Balloon, 11 August

Winner of the Toronto Best Fringe Production and Female Breakout Performance at the BroadwayWorld Awards, Adventures Of A Redheaded Coffeeshop Girl is the sequel to Rebecca Perry's Confessions Of A Redheaded Coffeeshop Girl.

After graduating with a degree in anthropology, Joanie found herself working in a coffeeshop rather than her dream job. Then the opportunity came up for her to work in Tanzania and study chimps with her role model, and she jumped at the chance.

I thought the story was a little random, even more so when I realised it was a character and not actually the story of actress Rebecca Perry. Perry has an exceptional musical theatre voice and her songs are a real treat. Unfortunately there aren't as many songs as I would have liked as the story of her trying to rehabilitate a chimp unfolds. As she switches between characters, there is the tinkling of a piano to inform us that the character has changed, which gets annoying very quickly.

Perry is a confident and enthusiastic performer and her rendition of "Caledonia" gave me chills. The material for the show was slightly lacking - it felt shallow and didn't manage to compensate for that with humour. I would definitely be interested to see more from Rebecca Perry, but this show just wasn't for me.

Adventures of a Redheaded Coffeeshop Girl is at the Gilded Balloon until 29 August.

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