Edinburgh Fringe 2025
Exposure Therapy
Nicole Nadler, High Heels and Heavy Suitcase Productions
Venue: Greenside @ George Street
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
Having brought her diagnosis of ADHD onstage at a previous Fringe show, this was an attempt by Nadler to continue that creative journey. Because of the nature of the conceit that is being used it hit some marks and fell short of others. It is a solo spot in an intimate space which allows the connection between performer and audience to be effective.
Review
Once an introduction as to the format of the show is over with, Nadler tells us that we have to be close to post-it notes and we’ll write on those post-it notes our greatest fear and maybe a date that she can read from one of her diaries from. She will then pick post its at random and respond to them – and that is the premise of the show. Different one every night; obvs.
The problem is that we do end up in a dark place regularly, because, when you ask people to put down their fears, they’re not going to put down things which are delightful. Then when you have no control over the subject matter of your show, it’s going to be very hit or miss.
The night that I was in, it was exactly that. There were things that were interesting and there were things that didn’t quite hit or land. You do need someone responding with authority. Someone with a wide experience in doing this type of show. It allows them to draw upon previous conversations or experiences, questions or interactions to bring in a funny anecdote or something profound. Engagement as part of theatre, as seen on Tik Tok, with the likes of comedians Paul Smith, John Bishop or Jimmy Carr, shows performers with an acute ability to connect with an audience and to give some feedback. At the age of 36, Nadler in her first show is not quite there yet. But where else are you going to get that experience apart from being in a small, intimate venue in the Fringe, not hidden, but not necessarily obvious, to everybody, that this is what you’re going to do?
It therefore, to an extent, worked.
I liked the Burn Book, where she’s going to read out all the terrible things that people say about her in her final show. Which brings us to the most interesting part, when Nadler became upset and angry was about the people who, in a previous show, had walked out. Their fear was of boobs was the post-it note that they had left behind. They had locked eyes with Nadler challengingly and that conflict ahs continued into social media.
Here is where it becomes more interesting because, #bekind is in their Twitter feeds, but troll and be horrible, is in their social media, and it tends to be the way that people go. When it was searingly personal, she came alive.
There are few technical processes, although there’s a lot of glitter and plenty of post-it notes. Ultimately, the glitter helps but hides nothing. It’s a brutal place and perhaps Nadler needs to return to the scripted and sculpted experiences that served her well before. When she was asked what were the three things that were good about her diagnosis, she pinpointed none, although she did give us a couple of things which she thinks, are possible positives. That honesty was the best bit, but I don’t know if it was theatrical enough to fill a show.
