Review of Briony Kimmings new comedy-theatre piece at Soho Theatre Walthamstowe

In the first show to debut at Soho Theatre’s new Walthamstow outpost – and with a sizeable two-and-a-half week run in the beautiful 960-seat venue – Bryony Kimmings presents an autobiographical account of her move from the city to the countryside.

It’s more than a simple change of circumstances, however, but a whole reappraisal of her attitude to life and a broader consideration of where humanity’s gone wrong. 

As an urbanite who took full advantage of all the conveniences that lifestyle had to offer, she did not find the transition particularly easy –  she still misses the Deliveroo and Selfridges splurges of old, even if they left her feeling empty. Or as she puts it, to sniggers she encourages, she had a ‘massive hole’ that needed filling..

Cue, then, a drastic move to live with an old friend she’d romantically fallen for and who lives in an off-grid eco-homestead in rural East Sussex, trying to live off the land and make-do-and-mend.

As a performance artist who has always featured comedy strongly in her work, Kimmings paints an amusing fish-out-of-water scenario here. She tries to embrace the new life beyond buying into a twee cottagecore aesthetic, but is inherently cynical. Her neighbours are portrayed as hippies: white people with dreads or Earth Mothers who live in twee houses that look like a ‘hobbit’s vagina’ – one of Kimmings’  many witty turns of phrase.

She resists thinking too hard about the environment, figuring that her internal doom is plenty to be worrying about – but soon finds herself drawn into the rhythms and the ancient folklore of the land. Initially, she wants to fell an ancient oak for spoiling her view, but then comes to appreciate it as the mother of the woodlands that surround her.

Though she doesn’t mention it explicitly, there’s a distinctly female energy to her life that ties into that Mother Nature theme – blokes, even her DILF Will – barely get a look-in. There are parallels here with The Change (whose creator, Bridget Christie, happened to be the first-night audience) especially as Kimmings leans into the folklore of the land.

Central to this is the annual Carnival Of All Beings, a Ritual in which locals dress up various elements of the ecosystem – badgers or mushrooms, for example – to  effectively put humanity on trial for what it has done, before welcoming us back into nature’s embrace.

As she takes us through the four seasons of her new bucolic life, Kimmings has the attitude of a stand-up, a mix of self-deprecating storytelling and sassy asides, delivered with the indiscretion of a friend. Amusing songs written by Tom Parkinson also pepper the narrative, while  simple but effective set design and shadow projections evoke a simpler life, as well as helping Kimmings fill the theatre’s vast stage.

The good-natured chat can be long-winded, but she’s always engaging, building up an empathy as the narrative delivers some uncompromising reminders about how nature can be brutally cruel. Grief, anger and fear are part of the rhythms of life, as well as natural responses to an impending eco catastrophe that seems overwhelming. That even Kimmings can eventually accept this and change from rampant consumerism to treading more lightly on this Earth is signposted as a lesson to us all.

She ends with some quite earnest lessons on that point –which not the only time the messaging is heavy-handed – though the medicine comes with a substantial spoonful of sugar in the reconstruction of the Carnival Of All Beings, a joyous and silly ending to a charming, if patchy, autobiographical show.

• Bog Witch runs at the Soho Theatre Walthamstow until Saturday October 25

Review date: 16 Oct 2025
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Soho Theatre Walthamstow