My Shows
News on your favorite shows, specials & more!

EDINBURGH 2022: Review: FAT CHANCE, Pleasance Dome

Review of Fat Chance at the Pleasance Dome

By:
EDINBURGH 2022: Review: FAT CHANCE, Pleasance Dome  Image

EDINBURGH 2022: Review: FAT CHANCE, Pleasance Dome  Image

Fat Chance is a theatre show written by and starring Rachel Stockdale about her own experiences throughout her 20s.

Rachel wants to be a performer but she is told that you can only be two things out of northern, fat and female. She shares her rejection emails from drama schools and potential jobs. Many of these thoughtless statments provoke an emotional response from the audience.

Stockdale is a confident performer who tells us from the beginning that fat is not a bad word, it is simply descriptive. She rejects the notion of people telling her "you're not fat, you're beautiful" as if the two are mutually exclusive. When offered acting work she was encouraged to start visiting a personal trainer.

Documenting her trying to fit in with societal norms and bowing to the pressure of diet culture, she takes us through the different things she has tried to change her body shape and the impact it has had on her physically and mentally.

Fat Chance is a powerful play that examines how society views fat women and the pressure it puts on them. It's also a funny and warm piece of theatre with a captivating performer that evokes just the right amount of empathy and fury in the audience.



Reader Reviews

To post a comment, you must register and login.

Theater Fans' Choice Awards
2026 Theater Fans' Choice Awards - Live Stats
Best Lighting Design - Top 3
1. Jen Schriever, Michael Arden - The Lost Boys
38.3% of votes
2. Jack Knowles - Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)
11.7% of votes
3. Adam Honoré - CATS: The Jellicle Ball
6.8% of votes

Need more Scotland Theatre News in your life?
Sign up for all the news on the Spring season, discounts & more...


Videos


Shall Roger Casement Hang? in Scotland Shall Roger Casement Hang?
Hill Street Theatre (6/15-6/19)
Collaborator in Scotland Collaborator
Pleasance at EICC (Pentland) (8/06-8/22)
Gallant Pioneers in Scotland Gallant Pioneers
OVO Hydro (8/28-8/28)
Friendliest in Scotland Friendliest
Gilded Balloon (The Nook) (8/08-8/31)
Mark Thomas: 40 In Stand Up Years in Scotland Mark Thomas: 40 In Stand Up Years
The Lemon Tree (9/24-9/24)
Furniture Boys in Scotland Furniture Boys
Underbelly (Jersey) (8/05-8/30)
Father, Away She Goes in Scotland Father, Away She Goes
Zoo (Playground 1) (8/07-8/30)
100 Years of Magic in Scotland 100 Years of Magic
Aberdeen Arts Centre (9/04-9/05)
Chris Grace: 88% in Scotland Chris Grace: 88%
Assembly George Square Studios - Five (8/05-8/31)
Dracula: Lucy's Dream in Scotland Dracula: Lucy's Dream
Pleasance at EICC (Lennox) (8/06-8/29)