Review: Dolly, Omnibus Theatre

Jessica Clark in Dolly, Omnibus Theatre. Photo: Carla Joy Evans

Dolly at the Omnibus Theatre is not always an easy watch; it references many incidents from the uncomfortable to the downright terrifying that women endure at the hands of men.

The sad fact is that there will likely be something that is familiar to every woman in the audience.

We first meet Dolly (Jessica Clark) when she is doing stand up. She uses crowd work to set the scene and launch into the story of what happened at her other job.

To make money she also works as a waitress in the sort of Tex Mex that attracts stag parties,

But the handsy, drunk customers and an inappropriate male colleague are the least of her worries and not what will throw her at the mercy of the justice system.

It is a justice system that will prove to be an unstable life raft. Those sent to help Dolly, ironically, highlight its injustice, showing how normalised what women endure has become.

Breaking the tension

Dolly’s stand-up side-hustle breaks the tension of the piece, weaving a humorous thread through the story.

It can be a silly – #notallmen becomes a recurring joke, No Tall Men – alongside witty, darker, pointed humour, but it is carefully balanced.

If you don’t laugh, you’d cry, right?

Dolly is slickly performed to show the infection of emotions that she understandably endures. Emotions that those sent to help are determined to expunge, but only if Dolly gets with the programme.

Jessica Clark switches slickly between characters and overlapping pieces of narrative. The switches can be rapid, and it is sometimes challenging to keep up.

A camera at the back of the stage projects images of a notepad or dolls or Dolly onto a big screen.

The notepad has facts that nail the themes of the play: how male behaviour and sexual assault have become normalised and how so much of the justice and support system fails.

Through these themes, the Barbie doll props are turned from innocent children’s playthings to playthings of a more sinister sort.

Final thoughts

Dolly is a powerful and moving and doesn’t hold back. It’s an angry piece with just enough humour to temper it and will no doubt spark plenty of conversation. I’m giving it five stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️