Sarah Bennetto @ Laughing Horse, Espionage
Sarah Bennetto's listicle rattles along, but takes the time to be heartfelt
Sarah Bennetto is a Catholic – one of her many, many mistakes is being too Catholic – and so it’s not surprising that her show is confessional. The premise is simple, and she sticks to it: in list form, she owns up to her greatest errors, in a particular, but not chronological order. Her breathless, pink-cheeked delivery steers the show more towards shameless gossip than guilty secrets, and it’s almost impossible not to giggle with her.
Her scope is wide-ranging, but generally she flows well from one bit into another. Here the list structure helps and hinders, in turns – she’s sometimes too dependent on her clipboard for the next gag, but at other points it provides a neat segue. An improbable amount of her material seems to spring from the past two weeks, so the show may become slicker as the Fringe goes on.
It’s easier to forgive errors because her presence is so warm and engaging. Her audience interaction is, in her own words, empathetic and inclusive. In this set, the only target she needs is herself. In sharing her litany of mistakes, Bennetto covers huge, emotive topics with the lightest of touch and a lightning fast wit, rattling through stories and quips so quickly that they don't have the opportunity to land too heavily. She’s also in perfect command of the pacing, so when she does want to touch hearts as well as minds, it’s with a quiet, slow section that keeps the audience spellbound.