by an anonymous guest critic

Hannah Maxwell is back at the Fringe with her second show after 2019’s charming I, AmDram. This one is similar. It’s about what happened next for Hannah – moving back to Luton to care for her recently bereaved grandma. A show about 30-something angst, obsession and stalking should not be charming, but Maxwell manages to make it so. 

After seeing Barbara Previ on the telly in Eurovision 2021, Hannah decides she will learn French and makes “Le plan” to approach her and seduce her after a performance. Without wishing to spoil too much, “Le plan” is not particularly successful. She runs into a stalker of her own, forgets her Nan’s medication and ends up on a catastrophic night out. 

The dramatic material for this show is stretched a little thin over the hour, and it joins a glut of shows this year about directionless artists in their 30s (see also: International House of Vape). However, Maxwell is funny, self-deprecating and very honest. She has a talent for quite brutal self-examination, which in other hands could come off as indulgent. She manages to do enough in the opening half of the show to earn the audience’s trust enough that the emotional soul-baring lands well. There are some really excellent jokes, as she sets up her relationship with her Nan, and prepares the ground for the way ahead. This is a considered and accomplished second show.

Nan, Me, and Barbara Previ runs through 27 August.

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