This powerful one-woman show is a poignant tragicomedy, seamlessly oscillating between hilarity and heartbreak. In just sixty minutes, Claudia Fielding delivers a magnetic performance that keeps the audience laughing one moment with twinges of sadness the next.
Fielding portrays Claud, a bright, sharp-witted young woman still grappling with the grief of her father’s death, a loss that occurred ten years ago but continues to echo throughout her everyday life. As she spirals into reflections on mortality, identity, and human connection, the play takes a bold turn from the mundane into the surreal.
The set is striking in its simplicity: a London Underground tube carriage. The audience, positioned on either side of the “carriage”, become fellow passengers, bearing witness to Claud’s emotional and existential voyage as she paces the train aisle. The immersive staging blurs the boundary between performer and spectator, drawing the audience directly into Claud’s inner world.
As she disembarks at Angel station, something inexplicable happens. Claud slips into a transitional space, a strange, otherworldly realm of co-existence. Here, she encounters a ghost. Whether this apparition is real or imagined becomes secondary to the rich psychological and emotional unravelling that follows.
What makes this piece truly gripping is its relentless, fast-paced monologue, a torrent of Claud’s unfiltered thoughts, rants, and revelations. She muses on everything from sexuality to grief, feminism, and failed attempts at romance. We follow her through chaotic dates with men, her experience of embracing her lesbian identity, and the empowering role feminism plays in shaping her sense of self.
At its heart, this is a story of becoming, of finding strength, humour, and hope in the messiness of a fearful life. Claudia Fielding’s writing is intelligent, raw, and deeply human, and her performance is nothing short of captivating. With remarkable energy and nuance, she holds the audience in the palm of her hand for the full duration, never missing a beat.
A brilliantly crafted and emotionally resonant piece of theatre. Bold, funny, enchanting and contemplative.
Review by Bernadette Lintunen
An unlikely encounter with a ghost at Angel Tube Station jolts Claud into limbo. Forced to question mortality and start accepting grief, her story unravels piece by piece in a tragicomic escalator ride through time and space. Still finding her feet 10 years after her dad died, the only thing Claud can hold on to is a birthday gift from her sister a.k.a. The Ugliest Jumper in Existence.
Watch Claud’s reality slip through her fingers in a supernatural tale of grief and longing, shrouded by the ghosts of her past. Will her rendezvous with the dead persuade her to start living again?
Claudia Fielding and Anna Rastelli present
NEVER GET TO HEAVEN IN AN EMPTY SHELL
The Glitch
2 to 6 July 2025
