EDINBURGH 2026 Review: REFORMER, Greenside @ George Street
Runs until 29 August.
Eddie Thornton throws us into a world of astonishingly expensive Lulu outfits and chemical peels to reflect on unachievable beauty standards and awful friendships. Between a catty remark and a red-spring sabotage, two women (Anna Glendenning and Thornton herself) realise that they (shockingly!) have a lot more in common than they thought.
What starts as a competition of hypocrisy and arch morals becomes an astute observation on the societally engineered judgmental disposition of women. Mostly, it’s a reminder of how easy it is to get lost inside the social expectations that are continuously blasted at us through various channels. Lottie (Thornton) is a wellness guru who fills her time with trendy treatments and jarring regimes. Sophie (Glendenning) pretends to be her opposite, with her Sainsbury’s bag and Parkrun top, but is as problematic.
They bicker and compare in a delightful script that verbalises learned behaviours and toxic inner monologues. Once the fictional sheen of perfection that they both try to portray finally breaks, their insecurities and existential worries emerge. Though it’s a comedy, the foundations of Reformer (for my Pilates girlies, see what I did there?) rest on an acute social examination. The writing might come off as lighthearted and comic as the duo grapple with the instructor’s vocal fry and patronising cadence (Emma Kowalchuk) while they do her harrowing exercises, but the play reveals some of the horrors of womanhood too well for comfort.
The Pilates princesses will nod and laugh; the laymen will shudder in fear and swear they’ll never step foot in a studio in their lives. The only unrealistic thing in this show is how much time they have to talk and hydrate. Now, let the rage fuel you—but relax your face. And remember: “No grippy socks, no class!”
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