Lucy & Friends – Soho Theatre, London

Writer: Lucy McCormick

Director: Ursula Martinez

Lucy has no friends, so you, her audience, will have to solve that.

Known for shows such as Post Popular and Triple Threat, Lucy McCormick is one of the UK’s foremost leaders in experimental, participatory theatre and performance, winning multiple awards over the years and recently starring in a standout role in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Cowbois by Charlie Josephine at the Royal Court. After debuting at the Edinburgh Fringe, McCormick’s new show Lucy & Friends hits Soho Theatre for a string of zany and debauched performances.

The audience is welcomed into the Soho Theatre’s Main House with pumping music and a jovial atmosphere, the stage replete with glittering streamers and a large pole in the centre. Will it be used later? Or not? The real question you should be asking yourself is not if, but how? McCormick’s form of theatre is all about subverting an audience’s expectations. Elements and provocations are set up only to be undermined later down the track to hilarious effect.

McCormick begins the performance with an almost too sincere and realistic confession that, due to technical difficulties, the show will not be going ahead tonight, only to cop out at the last minute and burst into a rapturous song delivered amongst the audience itself.

If you are afraid of audience participation, then Lucy & Friends might not be for you. So much of McCormick’s humour is anchored around her interactions with members of the audience, such as designating the role of Agent, Reviewer and Mum to people in the front row or instructing others to throw confetti at her, aim a torch when the lights are low and handing out glasses of wine.

Ascribing a review to Lucy & Friends is a difficult prospect, as so much of the performance relies on the element of surprise. Some things may be far more shocking than others, as McCormick’s performance does delve into the uncomfortable and exhibitionist.

But this is all in an attempt to foster a newfound connection with her audience. McCormick’s manifesto, as she puts it very bluntly, is to create a sense of community, mainly so that she can receive Arts Council funding. But through decadence, extravagance and a fistful of audience participation, McCormick fosters a new family amongst strangers.

Runs until 16 March 2024