Stop Trying to be Fantastic

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STOP TRYING TO BE FANTASTIC – MOLLY NAYLOR – DRUM THEATRE 5 th May 2023 Produced in association with Inn Crowd Molly Naylor gives a warm in>mate performance making everyone comfortable, which dispelled the nervous mist among the audience from the first word. As both writer and performer Naylor takes strong grip of the script, something needed in a production that relies so heavily on its metaphor as its core drive. As the purpose of the production unfolds seamlessly, Naylors ability to hold the audience’s attention must be admired. A post shared by Grace Petrie (@gracepetriemusic) DIVA: Hey Grace. How’s the vibe up there in Edinburgh? Most of these strategies are destructive, although the first one, storytelling, gave her a successful career path. The second one, boozing, was not so fortunate. It led to unwise relationships, shame, humiliation and general problems with her health. But anything that makes the magpie go away, gets noted, and replicated. Bringing art to unexpected places and helping everyone find their creative spark. Welcome to Cygnet’s Dream Festival.

Molly begins her story in the same place that it ends, with her sat in a room of a fertility clinic, and the aim of becoming an egg donor. But this was not to be…. Passion and pain have clearly forged this award-winning writer/performer’s work. Making an hour pass in the blink of an eye, yet filling that space with purposeful intention, Molly stands alone – vulnerable, funny, self-reliant. Of course, it’s a metaphor. A symbol of a trauma not discussed; silenced and suppressed. Stop Trying To Be Fantastic turns the elephant in the room to the magpie in the room. And, if you’ve ever witnessed a bird when it accidentally finds itself trapped you know exactly how it panics, thrashing about leaving havoc in its wake. Stop Trying To Be Fantastic is that which gets left behind once the incident has passed. The initial mess might be cleaned up, yet an echo remains.

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Molly Naylor is a scriptwriter, poet, performer and graphic novelist. Her stories and plays have been broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and she has performed at festivals and events all over the world. She has featured on several renowned radio shows and podcasts including A Good Read and The Guilty Feminist. Her third poetry collection is published by Bad Betty Press. She is the co-creator and writer of Sky One comedy After Hours. She wrote and performed the acclaimed solo spoken-word shows Whenever I Get Blown Up I Think Of You and My Robot Heart. Her first graphic novel Lights, Planets, People! was published by Avery Hill in September 2021 and won the Broken Frontier award for best graphic novel. Her new live show Stop Trying to be Fantastic is currently touring the UK. There’s something to do pretty much every night, but there’s also so much delicious countryside to disappear off into. It’s also a very queer-friendly city, which is a good thing! Also – Roys, obviously.

Swimming costume (swimming keeps me sane at the best of times)! Yoga mat (sorry, I’m that guy now)! Award-winning writer/performer Molly Naylor has some ideas to share – with a little help from a feathered fiend, who may not quite be the monster it seems. Review by Jeremy Day.Do you have a nagging voice inside your head? How do you deal with it? Stop Trying to be Fantastic by Molly Naylor explores the challenges of having that constant internal nagging.