Sex Chat Granny (Camden Fringe) Review

Harriet Waterhouse in Sex Chat Granny

Harriet Waterhouse's debut play is funny with a surprising heart.

Performing as part of the Camden Fringe, Harriet Waterhouse's debut play Sex Chat Granny is a funny yet surprisingly moving story of an elderly woman trying to make ends meet for her family and grandchildren whilst working as a phone sex worker. She battles with life, the illness of her family, and herself in an attempt to hold it all together as best she can.

Written and performed by Waterhouse, Sex Chat Granny feels fresh and modern, if you're okay with profanity, innuendo, and bad Game of Thrones impressions, then you'll get on just fine. The script has moments of real laugh-out-loud comedy, although perhaps Waterhouse could refine some of the jokes that often felt to have a second, less funny punchline. Her comic timing and delivery was great though, and it's clear Granny came from a real, dry (if you'll pardon the pun) place in Waterhouse's life.

Her characterisation is true and believable, for the most part. She hones in very well to the innocent, sweet and mundane nature of Granny which juxtaposed nicely with her dominatrix phone calls, dressing gown to help of course, but perhaps the characterisations of her various personas could've varied more. After a while everything did start to blend and become slightly one-note. I also found her emotional range to begin very strong, her first monologue regarding her mother brought tears to her eyes, but after a while these poignant moments also began to feel demonstrative.

There was minimal blocking in Kaarina Kendall's direction (whilst this can be expected in a fringe show, a production doesn't have to limit itself so much, one might suggest) so it's fair to assume that a lot of her focus went into delivering the narrative and heart of the piece, which on the whole felt realised and the image of Waterhouse inappropriately massaging a sock as she feigns 'enjoyment' for her customers was a hilarious choice, the first time it was used. Some directional choices were hard to read though, I was sometimes unsure if Granny was talking to us, someone in the room with her, a customer on the phone, or someone at the care home and why we began the show with Granny throwing socks onto the floor was never fully clear. The climax (if you'll pardon the second pun) of the piece is when her direction began to feel predictable though, with Waterhouse undoing the hour of hard work she'd put into building a believable character, and pairing a nursery's worth of socks, in a moment of drama-schoolesque rage.

On the whole, I thought the show was fun, it had real heart and the potential to be refined into an emotional and thought-provoking piece. Waterhouse is a more-than-competent actor who carries the show well. It's clear she has a real connection with a text that is strong but crying out for an experienced dramaturg, and Kendall's direction left more to be desired. I do hope that the production can grow, and I'd be interested to see how it develops. In its current incarnation, Sex Chat Granny was "fine, adequate, appropriate."