After a successful run in London, Suzanne Morrison brings her one-woman show Yoga Bitch to the intimate confines of the Burton-Taylor theatre in Oxford. Morrison tells the story of her search for enlightenment at yoga boot camp through an engaging and highly entertaining monologue. Though she considers herself first and foremost a writer, she is at ease on stage and a skilled storyteller, drawing the audience in as if in conversation. It is not surprising to learn that the story is her own, based almost entirely on real experiences.
Fleeing boyfriend troubles in the States, she embarks on a two month yoga training in Bali, Indonesia. She spends eight hours a day stretching, bending and meditating and learning that yoga can be even more bizarre than wanting to float on a cloud (as she mocks in her opening lines). Indeed, it can even involve drinking pee (and yes, she does) or exorcising a blender. Morrison is engagingly honest whilst still being downright hilarious, as she describes her struggles to resist the coconut vanilla milkshake and the perfect pistachio green Prada handbag. Her lampoons of fellow yoginis including the farting Louisa, the astral-projecting Lou and the newly re-virginised housemate Jessica, are very funny, and ironically with little trace of bitchiness.
Her main prop is a yoga mat, which she uses to great effect as she moves the audience from one scene to the next. A simple backdrop of panels and a potted palm allows the audience the space to imagine themselves in Bali, whilst the small jar of pee (hopefully apple juice…) makes the moment where she drinks it even more excruciating. And though the technician claims to only have an outline with bullet points to go by, the use of lighting at precisely the right moments adds the finishing touches to the performance.
Yoga Bitch doesn’t try to be anything more than a great story, and in doing so, is very successful. It’s a light-hearted comedy with a few nuggets of insight, and will likely keep you laughing no matter if you’ve practised yoga, and even if you’ve never even heard of a ‘Kundalini’ experience.
Fleeing boyfriend troubles in the States, she embarks on a two month yoga training in Bali, Indonesia. She spends eight hours a day stretching, bending and meditating and learning that yoga can be even more bizarre than wanting to float on a cloud (as she mocks in her opening lines). Indeed, it can even involve drinking pee (and yes, she does) or exorcising a blender. Morrison is engagingly honest whilst still being downright hilarious, as she describes her struggles to resist the coconut vanilla milkshake and the perfect pistachio green Prada handbag. Her lampoons of fellow yoginis including the farting Louisa, the astral-projecting Lou and the newly re-virginised housemate Jessica, are very funny, and ironically with little trace of bitchiness.
Her main prop is a yoga mat, which she uses to great effect as she moves the audience from one scene to the next. A simple backdrop of panels and a potted palm allows the audience the space to imagine themselves in Bali, whilst the small jar of pee (hopefully apple juice…) makes the moment where she drinks it even more excruciating. And though the technician claims to only have an outline with bullet points to go by, the use of lighting at precisely the right moments adds the finishing touches to the performance.
Yoga Bitch doesn’t try to be anything more than a great story, and in doing so, is very successful. It’s a light-hearted comedy with a few nuggets of insight, and will likely keep you laughing no matter if you’ve practised yoga, and even if you’ve never even heard of a ‘Kundalini’ experience.