Weer at Soho Theatre Walthamstow: a 'silly, seductive, slapstick joy'

On Friday night, London's hottest new venue welcomed its first guests with an "extravagant bang" as Natalie Palamides took to the stage with her one-woman show, "Weer", said Mark Monahan in The Telegraph.

Soho Theatre Walthamstow turns out to be "quite a place". The eagerly awaited offshoot of the "Dean Street institution" was built in 1930 as a "colossal" cinema and over the last six years has been painstakingly transformed into a 960-seat theatre. The result is a "grand" old-school auditorium with "Alhambra-inspired trimmings" and a "capacious" foyer complete with two bars. "What's not to like?"

First aired at Edinburgh Fringe (where it won best show in 2024), Palamides' "Weer" echoes the venue with its seamless mix of the "reassuringly old-fashioned and utterly modern". The "outrageously entertaining" show follows Mark and Christina, a tumultuous couple in a three-year relationship on the verge of a break-up. Kicking off with a fierce argument on New Year's Eve 1999, the action periodically flashes back to 1996 to reveal what went wrong between the pair.

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Palamides plays both lovers simultaneously by splitting her costume down the middle; on the right-hand side is Mark in a "macho" plaid shirt, while Christina, on the left, has a bright pink top and long, flowing hair. It's a "clownish trope as old as the hills" but the material is "bracingly and brilliantly 21st-century", and Palamides is an "atom-bomb of energy", filling the gigantic space with her dynamic performance.

The "cavernous" auditorium is transformed with a "riot" of props spanning everything from "life-sized stags" to swirling car headlights, said Will Noble on Londonist. "Tear-inducingly funny and at times jaw-droppingly shocking", it's an "exquisite" show.

Palamides is a "terrifically talented physical storyteller", said Bruce Dessau in London's The Standard, and her execution of both roles is a "formidable feat". Whether the couple are "squabbling over car keys" or "snogging" in the shower, it's "easy to forget that there is only one person on stage".

There are a few moments of audience participation but you won't get "hauled" on stage unless you're keen to. "There is no chance of anyone else stealing the show. This is very much Palamides' night." A "silly, seductive, slapstick joy", "Weer" is a "spectacular show to open a spectacular location".

At Soho Theatre Walthamstow, E17 4QH., until 10 May