Karl Minns’ Norwich single mum alter ego’s winter outing is becoming a tradition as familiar as Old Year’s Night – and remains a sparkling piece of self-effacing fun.
Riffing off local news headlines and personalities, the hour-long show features leisurewear sporting She Go, a Larkman estate living older lady who is besotted with Look East legend Stewart White and still supporting her now adult daughter Destiny Aguilera.
Most jokes don’t hit particularly surprising targets – there are gags at the expense of Ipswich, Anglia Square, and the crumbling coastline at Hemsby – but they are delivered with an affectionate warmth. And not just because She Go’s hitting the menopause.
It’s a long line of in jokes at the Norfolk accent, places, and people, and can only be truly be fully enjoyed by those that understand that a calligraphic protest poster is the epitome of Golden Triangle middle-class outrage and that “cheerful on the outside, dying on the inside” is the perfect description of Norwich’s Castle Mall shopping centre. Bonus points if you also get the Bygones reference.
The jokes are frequently lewd but delivered with a sparkling smile, along with some smart word play that keeps you laughing with your head as well as your, well, other areas.
It’s a perfect tonic for Dry January – and inevitably She’s Go version of that is slightly cruder. Tickets are harder to come by than Sir Thomas Browne’s brain, but if you could do with a bit of ole squit to lighten up the darkness, give it a go.
- She Go Looks Back At 2023 continues at Norwich Theatre Playhouse until January 21 2024; limited availability, check with the box office for returns.
