IN ANY AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL WORK, THE WRITER NEEDS TO ASK THEMSELVES AT EVERY TURN: WHY SHOULD OTHER PEOPLE CARE?

By Sophie Clark | Muck Rack Portfolio ⭐⭐ | Press Invite

Sarah McGuinness has a lot to work with in this respect. Born in London and then thrown full-throttle into conflict-riddled Derry at a young age, she suffered abuse from her peers, the full weight of being the eldest in a constantly growing family, and bomb threats seemingly every night. 

There are moments when the pressure of this really shines through in her work. Her line about being the elder sister of the more carefree idealised ‘Derry Girls’ felt particularly poignant. And, meeting her childhood hero whilst feeling like a failed artist herself provided a very interesting and engaging point of view. 

Her voice is also excellent. She regularly performs at jazz clubs in London, so I would recommend catching her there for a night of what’s sure to be glitz and glamour and great tunes. 

However, when it comes to her show, just as she grasps at a wider narrative scope, her work devolves into at best a vanity project, and at worst, a therapy session other people are paying to see. 

The first half of her show (which ran for nearly two hours with no interval) is about her childhood. And although I didn’t find her acting to be particularly compelling, it is absolutely fair to see a child of The Troubles as a victim.

However, the second half is about being a grown-up in London, living what anybody else would see as a very successful life in show business (McGuinness is best known for her Emmy-nominated documentary on Eddie Izzard). It is significantly harder to paint this as a sob story. 

By the end of the show, I was left asking whether it was plausible for McGuinness to be as hapless and helpless as she makes herself come across, from a Hollywood agent being mean to her, to a London music agent being mean to her, to, you guessed it, reviewers being mean to her; it all felt a bit exhausting.  

Although she handles self-deprecation well, it seems unlikely that in the story of her life she’s never once been the bad guy. 

Lastly, I would question her desire to play Sally Bowles and her knowledge of Cabaret (the musical) if her ending note is about peace and harmony…that musical is quite famously about people choosing to party rather than face the horrors of the world around them. 

From the runaway success of Derry Girls and Say Nothing, the world is well primed for stories about The Troubles, but McGuinness’s story ends up just being about herself. And, I was left by the end feeling like, unfortunately, I didn’t really care. 

Grit, Glitter & Gaslight – The Sarah McGuinness Story – A Cabaret Musical is running at Circle and Star Theatre until Saturday 21 March.

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