Because it was so iconic, says Sarah Cameron

As defining as BC and AD were for time, the industry can now be split into BF and AF – Before Fleabag and After Fleabag.

One-woman shows have always existed but the phenomenal writing of the utterly iconic Fleabag and the stripped back nature of the original Fringe show with Phoebe Waller-Bridge perching on a stool for two hours and engaging directly with the audience, gave birth to a whole new era of what a one-woman show means

It is so famed also means that almost every one-woman show is now ranked from 1 to Fleabag. Each of us are now trying to reinvent the wheel that Waller-Bridge set in motion. Even to the point where Liz Kingsman created the fantastic One Woman Show which hysterically highlights the things solo performers do to differentiate themselves, which then ultimately becomes cliché.

It is simultaneously the most incredible compliment and biggest fear for any solo show to be compared to the behemoth. I was luckily enough to be a part of the Soho Theatre Labs for Edinburgh 2023 and my 12 companions were almost exclusively one-woman shows.

We each had to go around and pitch our show and the words that no one dared utter yet were so palpable in the air were: ‘It’s kind of like… Fleabag?’.  To dare to compare your work to the dynamism of the titan is ultimately seen as arrogant but it is also the fastest way to get a potential audience intrigued and excited about your show – if they liked that, they will probably like this. A bit like the suggestions on Netflix once you’ve finished a new series.

Some are entirely different of course, taking place in Russian sex clubs or Austenesque parodies, but mine is about a funny unnamed woman on a journey of self-discovery. Sound familiar? After the preview of my show Karen in July, a rhetoric started to emerge that it’s like ‘Fleabag meets The Office’. Catchy but risky, as buying into that sets your audience up for big expectations.

So bearing in mind that really any comic one-woman show will be compared to Fleabag, how can you stand out? Ultimately, you’ve got to start with a great story. Remembering what makes you, you, means that you will always create a unique piece and never fall in to the cliché of what is now seen as expected themes from a one-woman show.

For me, I just kept writing down funny scenarios on my Notes app and seeing how I could make them the worse possible reality for my characters.

For my show, the protagonist gets dumped on her birthday at Alton Towers by her long-term boyfriend Joe. Ouch. How can I make that worse? Turns out Joe has actually been having an affair. OK, OK – more. The affair is with the protagonist’s arch nemesis – Karen. And the cherry on top? They all work in the same office. How would you navigate that?

Karen has been described as a tragicomedy. I always wanted to go more down the comedy route so that when you get hit with those moments of vulnerability, you are completely knocked sideways. For me, nothing beats the audience laughing at a joke you have written, other than hearing them gasp because you have caught them totally by surprise in the tonal shift of funny to heartbreaking. It’s rare but it’s the best.

• Karen is on at Riddles Court, Greenside Venues just off the Royal Mile at 7:50pm (except August 20).

Published: 16 Aug 2023