LondonTheatre1

London Theatre: Tickets | Reviews | News | West End | UK Touring Productions

View All Shows Booking Now
  • Home
  • Top Selling Shows
    • Musicals
    • Plays
      • A Christmas Carol
      • Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
      • The Mousetrap
      • The Woman in Black
      • Witness for the Prosecution
    • & Juliet
    • Back To The Future
    • Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
    • Dirty Dancing
    • Frozen The Musical
    • Heathers
    • Jersey Boys
    • Les Misérables
    • Mamma Mia
    • Matilda the Musical
    • Moulin Rouge
    • Only Fools and Horses
    • Pretty Woman the Musical
    • The Book of Mormon
    • The Lion King
    • The Phantom of the Opera
    • Tina the Musical
    • Wicked
    • London Theatres
      • Seating Plans
      • Adelphi Theatre
      • Ambassadors Theatre
      • Apollo Theatre
      • Apollo Victoria Theatre
      • Duke of York’s Theatre
      • Fortune Theatre
      • Gillian Lynne Theatre
      • Harold Pinter Theatre
      • Lyceum Theatre
      • New Wimbledon Theatre
      • New Wimbledon Theatre Studio
      • Phoenix Theatre
      • Piccadilly Theatre
      • Richmond Theatre
      • Savoy Theatre
      • Trafalgar Theatre
  • News
    • Interviews
  • Reviews
  • UK Shows
    • Alexandra Theatre
    • Aylesbury Waterside Theatre
    • Brighton Theatre Royal
    • Bristol Hippodrome
      • Bristol Theatre Seating Plan
    • Edinburgh Playhouse
    • Glasgow Theatre Royal
    • Grand Opera House York
    • King’s Theatre Glasgow
    • Kit Kat Club London
    • Leas Cliff Hall
    • Liverpool Empire
    • Manchester Opera House
    • Manchester Palace Theatre
    • Milton Keynes Theatre
    • New Theatre Oxford
    • New Victoria Theatre Woking
    • New Wimbledon Theatre
    • New Wimbledon Theatre Studio
    • Princess Theatre Torquay
    • Regent Theatre Stoke
    • Rhoda McGaw Theatre
    • Richmond Theatre
    • Stockton Globe
    • Sunderland Empire
    • Swansea Arena
    • Victoria Hall Hanley Stoke
  • Newsletter
  • West End Theatres
Home » Reviews » Isa Bonachera: The Great Emptiness at Edinburgh Fringe | Review

Isa Bonachera: The Great Emptiness at Edinburgh Fringe | Review

August 23, 2019 Last updated: August 23, 2019 4:55 pm By Chris Omaweng

Isa Bonachera - Adrian TaussThere’s a warmth and pleasantness in Isa Bonachera’s performance that only occasionally turns just a little bit unkind. Such is her dislike of a certain kind of urban cyclist (you know, the ones who are colour blind to red lights) that when she dies, she’d like to be cremated and have her ashes thrown into the face of a passing ‘Lycra lout’ (my choice of phrase). The Great Emptiness begins with one of those helmets that astronauts wear, and as Bonachera points out, she only really uses it at the beginning – I assume because it’s difficult to be heard, even with the aid of a microphone, when wearing the (admittedly impressive) headgear.

In Presbyterian Scotland, Bonachera’s digs at her Roman Catholic upbringing go down well with the audience, including the notion asserted by nuns at the Catholic school she attended that adverse weather conditions happen because God is angry at homosexuals. It’s the power that gays cherish most preciously, her deadpan manner sardonically asserts, to “control the weather”. The video projections (and those of still images) have much to add to the show – well, Bonachera could have stood there and explained what a black hole looks like but what would be the fun in that?

Not being a film buff, some of the movie references went over my head, but a witty analysis of a futuristic music video had me in stitches. Her love of the universe and of what lies beyond this planet is palpable throughout the show, which captures the highs and lows of her life to date – the former involved a stint working at the Large Hadron Collider (or, as some other comedians have been known to call it, the Large ‘Hard-on’ Collider), and the latter involved being on her own doing night shifts in an observatory operating machinery that has since become automated.

There aren’t very many topics in the vast array of Edinburgh Fringe that in themselves can make a show stand out from the crowd. Some of the punchlines in the show are rather unexpected, and the audience is never entirely sure whether something is being presented as an unembellished fact, a mere joke, or both. Either way, who knew science could be so fun? A charming and distinctive show.

4 stars

Review by Chris Omaweng

The Great Emptiness is the real-life story of 2018 BBC New Comedy Award finalist Isa Bonachera and her quest to go to space. Join Isa for a thought-provoking and unapologetically dark hour of offbeat comedy about the universe and broken dreams.

Isa Bonachera: The Great Emptiness
A stand-up show about impossible dreams and the weirdness of the cosmos.

Old Tolbooth Market (Top), Gilded Balloon
Dates: 31 July – 25 August 2019
https://www.edfringe.com/

Search for Tickets
A Streetcar Named Desire

Hang by Debbie Tucker Green at Tower Theatre

Spoiler Alert for this review! Members of the audience are given a visitor’s pass along with an information leaflet. The latter, to the best of my … [Read More...]

Review of One Minute at the King’s Head Theatre

Simon Stephens’ enigmatic play is about the disappearance of a little girl and its impact on those whose job is to find her, or who want to help or … [Read More...]

Charlotte and Theodore at Richmond Theatre

In this serious yet very amusing play, we meet Charlotte (Eve Ponsonby) and Theodore (Kris Marshall). Two dreamers - colleagues, lovers and husband … [Read More...]

Black Superhero at The Royal Court Theatre

A heady mix of Gayness; Blackness; and Superhero. Ness. And as in all good threesomes, there is inevitably a dominant strand. Here, regrettably, it's … [Read More...]

The Effect By Lucy Prebble at Bridewell Theatre

What is it that excites you about going to the theatre? For me, it can be different things. A certain play, an actor I admire, or a company I know is … [Read More...]

Copyright www.LondonTheatre1.com
By using our website you’re confirming that you’re happy to accept our use of cookies.
Privacy Policy & Cookies - Advertising - About Us - Newsletter - Contact Us