‘Simple, entertaining, and real […] – like watching your friend have a mini ramble session in your living room’
Kate Pemberton’s ‘Professional’ is a hilarious and relatable one-woman show on trying to navigate through ‘f-unemployment’ while keeping your head up and your mood playful, and reflecting on your dreams, childhood and present, and whether you’re actually doing anything related to them. In just under an hour, writer and actor Kate creates a fun mix of skits, storytelling, crowd work improvisation and a touch of stand-up that gets the audience cracking within the first few minutes. Throughout the course of the play we see her prepare for, go through, and receive the response for a job interview, with short interruptions in the form of mini skits, fun stories and crowd work.
The show is strongly engaging from the very first couple minutes – Kate’s comedic character voices, accents and physicality get the laughs going immediately and you can’t help but ease into your seat and enjoy this random friendly woman who’s just told you her childhood dream was to be batman (or, preferably, batwoman). As charmingly funny as Kate’s characterizations are, certain moments and jokes could definitely stand on their own without an exaggerated accent or mannerism, especially since it led to breaking character a couple times, but which didn’t particularly affect the show due to its nature. Besides that, there is a lovely balance between highly energetic and calmer moments. Humor and randomness packed stories (for instance, answering the question of who puts the ducks in a park!) paired with tailor-made use of music distract the audience like your train of thoughts being interrupted by the funny memory that just popped in your brain while you were working, and then pull it back in nicely to the awkward reality.
As stated in the play’s subtitle and as Kate playfully reminds at the end, it is a work in progress, with these two shows at the Old Red Lion being the play’s very first official runs. It definitely did not feel like it – Kate’s comfortability on stage and smooth flow between moments, stories and skits make the watch easy and give the image of a well thought-out concept. Yet as charismatic as Kate is on stage and as fun as the stand-up aspect of the show is, there were a few moments where the improvisation seemed to fall a bit flat. The show could also dig a bit deeper in its serious moments. It poses very real questions, like why do we get so much validation off of getting hired for jobs we’ll most likely hate, and at what point did we stop claiming our childhood dreams, and gives the space for some important reflections, but seems to mainly scratch the surface of it. The ending, cleverly taking us back to Kate’s original childhood dream for one final laugh, wraps everything up nicely but feels a bit rushed.
Nonetheless, the play still gives plenty of food for thought and an enjoyable time. A one-actor show is always a risk but this one successfully remains fully engaging throughout its course. Simple, entertaining, and real, it feels comfortable and familiar – like watching your friend have a mini ramble session in your living room (in the best way possible). Most importantly it’s truthful; whether you’ve just entered the cycle of job-searching or have been doing it for years on end, you understand exactly what Kate’s talking about and what she’s going through. Its relatability is its strongest suit – and in case I haven’t mentioned yet, it is indeed very funny.
Review by Eva Matthaiou