Beryl Cook: A Private View Review

Kara Wilson stars as the titular painter in Beryl Cook: A Private View

Like her paintings, Beryl Cook: A Private View is a bright and joyful masterstroke.

No stranger to true life documentary theatre, Kara Wilson dons silver wig as she brings not only artist Beryl Cook to life, but also recreates one of her paintings right before our eyes.

In a detailed and homely set by designer Juliette Demoulin, Wilson sits down with us and recounts stories from Beryl's life, as the artist herself. She does so under the clever context of an homemade self-interview that Beryl once filmed for the BBC, allowing her to chat freely whilst painting 'Ladies Night' and tell us the cheeky anecdotes that surround said painting.

Wilson is warm and gentle as Cook, but she's also dry and witty in her humour. As she paints, she cracks jokes about the people that she's painting, the people that she's worked with, and the people that influenced her the most. Her performance is captivating and informative; there wasn't a moment that she left us to focus solely on her painting, and involved us as she amended colours and shapes on the canvas.

The 75 minutes fly by, much quicker than you'd expect when watching paint dry, and it's clear how much love and attention Wilson has given the facts of Cook's life as she worked with her family and estate to deliver this piece.

We were also treated to a Q&A after the performance where we had chance to hear Wilson's insights on Beryl, as well as writing these styles of theatre for Fringe venues, this is here 6 (we believe). I'd go into the things that she discussed, but I'd urge you to catch Beryl Cook: A Private View while you can, playing until 26th October at London's Finborough Theatre.