Happy Birthday Without You, Tricycle Theatre

Happy Birthday Without You is a one-woman show loosely plotted around birthday party anecdotes, which build to reveal our heroine's inner demons and tumultuous relationship with her mother.
Writer and actor Sonia Jalaly plays Violet Fox, a performance artist. The parallels of a performer playing a performer results in a play that is simultaneously self-consciously performative and directed at an audience, whilst also being intimate and introspective. It’s a difficult balance to pull off, but Jalaly does so with panache. The various genres she incorporates keep the play interesting whilst also somewhat unsettling, as impersonations of Judy Garland and Marilyn Monroe give way to dark memories of an alcoholic mother at a childhood birthday party

Happy Birthday Without You: Review

Sonia Jalaly as Violet Fox attempts to combine performative irony with a deeply personal exposé of the artist's complex relationship with her mother, but unfortunately both comedy and darker nuances seem to miss the mark. Happy Birthday Without You seems to hinge more on Jalaly's personal capabilities as actress – from the frequency of her larger-than-life impressions of Broadway dames ­­to her ability to pull off an exaggerated French accent whilst holding up primary-level flashcards, the whole act seems a little overtly pleased with itself. The script isn’t sharp enough to carry the sillier subject matter, and lacks the depth to draw out its serious themes.