Stories I Want To Tell You In Person

If Lally Katz could hold a note, she would have made a brilliant cabaret artist. The performer comes replete with confidence, clarity and control. Costume changes are nothing. Deadpan irony a breeze. And, as we know from her voluminous body of written work, she weaves stories with Class-A characters, humour and inviting, bright-eyed innocence. Everyone can get on board. Stories I Want to Tell You In Person is Katz's solo show debut, and what a wonder that fact is. As she tells us in the show itself, it was only after a string of near-misses in her love and professional life that the idea to perform in one of her own shows re-emerged as a realistic option. It's an attempt to turn a series of failures into “something that works”. And this show does work, especially if you're a Katz fan. Her impersonations are superb and turn vividly written characters from her life into vibrant on-stage presences. A nod must go to director Anne-Louise Sarks for wrangling Katz's untrained acting body so successfully. There's no set, save for a couple of chairs and a shimmery, gold backdrop, but the lighting, sound and direction hone sharp focus on a 'meta' string of tales which link up Kew, New York and Katz's mind with the person that commands the stage.