LondonTheatre1

London Theatre: Tickets Reviews | News | West End | Off-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 Drifters Girl
    • The Lion King
    • The Phantom of the Opera
    • Tina the Musical
    • Wicked
    • London Theatres
      • Seating Plans
      • Adelphi Theatre
      • Ambassadors Theatre
      • Apollo Theatre
      • Duke of York’s Theatre
      • Fortune Theatre
      • Gillian Lynne Theatre
      • Harold Pinter Theatre
      • Lyceum Theatre
      • New Wimbledon Theatre
      • New Wimbledon Theatre Studio
      • 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
Home » Reviews » …The F*CK Am I Doing? Presented by The COW Community | Review

…The F*CK Am I Doing? Presented by The COW Community | Review

May 24, 2021 Last updated: May 24, 2021 8:17 pm By Chris Omaweng

Not, alas, a show about the innermost thoughts of a Government minister, The F*ck Am I Doing? is more of a song cycle involving millennials (defined by the Pew Research Center as people born from 1981 to 1996) who have reached the point in their lives where they must face the various uncertainties and imponderables of life. Some of what is sung and spoken about are, frankly, First World Problems of the highest order: there’s even a song about the clothes washing cycle going on “until I die”, which made me shake my head and wonder if these people ever considered being thankful that they will have a large range of clothes to choose from and wear until they die.

...The F*CK Am I Doing?There is sufficient variation in the style and tempo of the musical numbers, and having explored almost anything and everything from the use of social media by ‘influencers’ who make a living from their online content to someone questioning if their decision to be a foreign missionary really has had a call from God, the narrative eventually turns its attention to love and relationships. There’s nothing new to report about in terms of storylines: young love can be euphoric, but young love can be painful.

The on-stage characters have names, though I’m not sure why as the only people mentioned are off-stage characters. In most cases, not enough is discovered about the characters to feel fully invested in what is going on, with the notable exception of a woman who dumps someone by telephone by way of a series of sarcastic apologies, only to then have a child with the same man. Otherwise, it’s the customer service agent who gets hit by a barrage of demands from callers, or someone trying to improve their mental wellbeing by using an app that only seems to tell them to do better at being calm and controlled, and so on.

It could, at least in its online format, be considerably pacier. Does the audience really need to watch someone texting, or at their laptop bashing out a work email? I struggled to maintain interest whilst watching someone at a bus stop on their smartphone. Granted, it was a brief moment, but nonetheless, it wasn’t exactly riveting viewing.

The characters harmonise well during the larger ensemble numbers but otherwise, there did not appear to be much, if any, connection between them, and it is therefore left to the audience to draw out common themes from the variety of scenarios presented. There is a good deal of familiarity in the portrayal of people’s morning routines before leaving the house to go to work, and the production provides some insights into the struggles that younger people contend with.

In the end, however, it feels like another show about quarter-life crises, and it was, perhaps ironically, difficult to feel much empathy with people to whom the world owes nothing. That said, I can’t fault the acting in this honest and amusing show.

3 Star Review

Review by Chris Omaweng

…The F*CK Am I Doing? Is the inaugural production of the new writing initiative, The COW Community, founded by recent graduates of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. As a nod to the show’s exploration of mental health, …The F*CK Am I Doing? is first being produced as a prerecorded digital benefit on April 30th, 2021 for the nonprofit, Playing Sane, which seeks to support the mental health experiences of working artists. …The F*CK Am I Doing? is booked for a subsequent digital run at Brighton Fringe this summer.

Search for Tickets
A Streetcar Named Desire

Wish You Were Dead at Theatre Royal Brighton

Wish You Were Dead is the sixth of Peter James’ crime novels to be adapted for the stage by Shaun McKenna, each featuring the enigmatic Superintendent … [Read More...]

Flabbergast Theatre presents Macbeth at Southwark Playhouse

The need to come up with a fresh take on something as renowned as Shakespeare’s Macbeth is understandable. But I trust it is not too much to ask to be … [Read More...]

Debate: Baldwin vs Buckley at Stones Nest

The text of James Baldwin and William F. Buckley’s 1965 Cambridge Union opposing speeches should be part of the national curriculum. For this reason … [Read More...]

Accidental Death of an Anarchist at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre

The death of Giuseppe Pinelli (1928-1969) by defenestration, the anarchist in the title of the play, was not at the forefront of very many, if any, … [Read More...]

Marjorie Prime at Menier Chocolate Factory

When our loved ones die, many of us wish that we could have spent more time with them. Alas, it is not possible and things that were unsaid when they … [Read More...]

London Theatre 1 and London Theatre One are Registered Trademarks Copyright 2023 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

As an Amazon Associate our website receives a commission from qualifying purchases from Amazon.