All the Things I Lied About

Katie Bonna
Soho Theatre
Roundabout @ Summerhall

All the Things I Lied About

The big question is whether Katie Bonna's autobiographical stories are based on fact or entirely fabricated.

If the writer-performer’s father really did two-time her mother, practically driving the poor lady mad, that is very sad. It also makes Miss Bonna’s own confessions of dishonesty and unfaithfulness pertinent to her future as a newly-determined lesbian.

Alternatively, everything in the hour-long TED Talk could be an invention to con and amuse her audience, thus proving her thesis that we all lie constantly and listeners get sucked in.

It seems more than likely that this is a cleverly devised theatrical trick, in which case the irritating persona is presumably also an invention, perhaps suggested by a partiality to Alan Partridge. Then again...

In any event, the hour comprises great attempts to pull at heartstrings, guilt the audience and make us think about the proliferation of lying in society today. Regrettably, despite hints that it will head in a political direction, the great lies around the European Referendum and US Election are largely ducked.

Reviewer: Philip Fisher

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