THEATRE REVIEW: The F*** It Button - King's Arms Theatre, Salford.

It is rare to have an audience so uniformly wowed that practically all give a standing ovation when not one person knew what to expect before entering the theatre. And rightly so. This piece of theatre was so powerful in so many ways. The audience were taken on a journey of comical highs and crushing lows, and we were all invited to say ‘f*** it’; whether that be ‘f*** it, have another slice of cake’, or ‘f*** it, accept the things we cannot change’.

Written and performed by actor and comedian Ali Kahn, it become clear within the first few minutes of the performance that she is one talented woman. Every single line of her script was carefully chosen and wonderfully written. And she delved into different characters with great ease, altering her accents, physicality and mannerisms instantly. Kahn exuded a confidence on stage that made her a joy to watch, and then a vulnerability that drew her audience in and had us hanging on her every word.

Kahn takes us through her life of addiction; including sex, drugs and even mashed potato. A lot of the time she speaks directly to a stuffed monkey who shares the stage with her, and then sometimes she addresses her audience directly. At first we assume this monkey is an ambiguous listener, but it becomes apparent that this monkey is in fact Kahn herself.

The audience certainly got their money’s worth in this 60 minute show. We were treated to accents, physical theatre, musical numbers, Shakespearean-style monologues and even a rap song. Despite all of these different performance elements, the show never lulled or seemed to dip in energy, and it flowed from one medium to the next seamlessly. Ali Kahn, along with director Anna Macgowan, plan to tour this show nationally, including to next year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Seeing as the other two shows at the Manchester Fringe are already sold out, this may be your only option to witness this spell-binding one-woman show, and I would urge you to do so, and not just for the memento we were each given as we left the theatre, our very own 'F*** It' button!

Director Macgowan and writer and actor Kahn have created a modern, uplifting, hysterical production. Both are clearly very talented in their respected fields, and they utterly deserve the praise they are no doubt going to receive.

Reviewer - Megan Relph
on - 4/7/19