Liz Kingsman seems distracted. We’re sipping coffees in the National Theatre foyer, and the most in-demand woman in UK live comedy is looking around, excitedly spotting things. “I’m going to take a photo of that and send it to my designer,” she tells me, pointing at a lectern across from us. It’s possible to put her slightly giddy, nervous energy down to the fact that her smash hit One Woman Show is opening shortly in the West End. Her eyes roam around for things she might use as props on stage; next, she alights on an extremely cute dog padding around with its owner. “I didn’t know dogs were allowed in here,” Kingsman says, eyebrows raised in excitement. “That’s going to change things, I’m afraid. That’s going to change things for this venue.”
This latest run of One Woman Show, a sharp, hilarious parody of the trend for solo plays by actor-writers about life as a cosmopolitan young woman (à la Fleabag) will be its biggest yet – the latest stop in its wild ride of runaway success, following endless extended runs and five-star reviews. Kingsman plays an exaggerated version of herself, a jobbing actor who is taping her self-penned solo show so that she can send it to a TV commissioner in the hope of becoming the next big thing. Meta? Absolutely. Genius? Undoubtedly.
