Bicycles and Fish

Review by: Paul Towers, 11/9/19

Bicycles and Fish by Katie Arnstein

Directed by Daniel Goldman

Upstairs @ The Western, 11 – 13 Sept 2019

“by turns hilarious and touching”

Over the years I have been reviewing productions at Upstairs I have seen quite a few shows from Tangram Theatre Company and Bicycles and Fish is up there with their best works.

Written and performed by new playwright Katie Arnstein this is her story of how, at the ripe old age of 16, she became a woman. This is not a traumatic account of her first menstruation (although I am sure that Arnstein could make even that hilarious), nor has it anything to do with fish or bicycles.  No, this is the tale of how she gained the confidence to say no and stand up for herself. Inbetween avoiding the lecherous advances of the café boss where she minimum-waged herself in the hope of saving up for driving lessons to learning how to avoid the lecherous advances of a beer crazed stag party on the train home Katie became a stronger woman (hm there’s a theme here that many women will recognise intimately).

Katie Arnstein is immensely personable with a very warm stage presence, a deft way with an aphorism and a talent for original ukulele songs.

A simple stage with a couple of chairs and a side table were all that Arnstein needed to conjure up her adventures in the West Midlands

This was by turns hilarious and touching as she let us into the world of her 16 year old self’s journey into maturity and first love.

Bicycles and Fish is on at Upstairs at The Western again on Friday 13^th Sept in a  double bill with Sexy Lamp, the sequel, which is on alone on Thursday 12^th

Tangram Theatre https://www.tangramtheatre.co.uk

Upstairs at The Western http://upstairsatthewestern.com/
First published on Western Gazette