The Waiting
08 November 2025
Etcetera Theatre
5.0 out of 5.0 stars
The Waiting, by writer and performer Nina-Lou Bricard, is presented at the Etcetera Theatre as part of the Voila Festival, with one more chance to see the show on the 16th November. This 30 minute action packed one woman show is a whirlwind experience incorporating physical theatre, burlesque elements, bold comedy, and deeply emotional coming-of-age story of a young woman with heavy trauma.
Meet Maeva, a confident and vibrant French upper-class woman, accustomed to luxury and elegance. As she flounces into a sticky pub clad in a wedding dress she seems self-assured and full of expectation. Hilarious comedy opens the show and lulls the audience into a sense of security as Maeva comments on other patrons at the pub, arrogantly deriding their sense of dress and lack of style, loudly blending French expressions into her bubbly commentary. She reminisces about her teenage career as a model in Paris and the luxury she was cloaked in, attending high-profile parties, which stands in stark contradiction to her current location. She desperately seeks attention from the men in the pub, who mostly ignore her, going to great lengths to catch an eye or two.
From ranting about her ex-fiance who she just left at the altar to bragging about her past extravagant lifestyle. But when one patron recognises her from those fabled parties and confronts her with a harsh truth, things go off the rails quickly.
The Waiting is a hard-hitting exploration of the pervasive exploitation of young girls and women, seeking to examine performative womanhood as much as how trauma often leads to overly sexual and attention seeking behaviour. Peppered with humour and physical comedy, the darker narrative is deftly woven into a broader story of a larger-than-life character laying her soul bare. The unsettling informality of the casual chatter of this deeply traumatised woman is incredibly well performed, very explicit themes are alluded to expertly and cloaked in a highly entertaining 30 minute powerhouse performance. A brilliantly unsettling piece of theatre!
