‘Welcome to the most controversial show on the fringe!” Some audiences will diagnose self-regard in that intro by rookie standup Amanda Knox. For others, as for Knox herself, it merely acknowledges the continuing efforts to silence her. But then, Knox is “the human version of the blue/gold dress”, a canvas on to which we all project guilty, innocent – or weird. Her innocence now proved, it’s the last of these charges she takes on in this fringe outing, retelling her oft-told tale through the lens of new motherhood.
Is it a disgrace that she’s telling it at all – and profiting from it, some would say (although they’ve presumably never taken a show to the Edinburgh fringe)? Classifying Cartwheel as comedy may be a misstep; it risks looking insensitive and inaccurately describes the show. But, judging by the evidence, Knox would be damned whatever she did. Now at least she can tell her story in her own way, articulating a growing anger at her treatment and a determination to raise her daughter, not to be silenced and scared but “to be the exact girl I was punished for being”.
