Tilly No-Body continues at Bramley at Gilded Balloon at Appleton Tower until 24 August 2025.
Star rating: three stars ★ ★ ★ ✩ ✩
This one-woman show relates the life and times of Tilly Wedekind, wife and muse of the playwright Frank Wedekind and the turning point of changing her name from ‘Newes’ to ‘Nieman’, translated as ‘No-body’.
Written and performed by Bella Merlin, this play is crammed with fact and many asides about Frank and Tilly. Clearly a lot of passionate research has been carried out although occasionally this interrupts dramatic flow as we are signposted to the next fact.
It’s perhaps a nod to the Wedekind/Brechtian technique of ‘distancing’ the audience to interrupt any emotional trajectory. However, one is left wondering about the woman behind the name more and more frequently.
The staging is interesting and the circus theme could have been used as the metaphor for Tilly’s professional life to a greater extent. Costume choices are also intriguing, beginning with Tilly enfolded in an overly-large coat and hat. As the play progresses, her clothing is shed piece, by piece, symbolic of sharing her story with us.
There are a few songs sprinkled throughout – the amplified backing track unfortunately means that some of the sense is lost.
Merlin is a very skilled performer and when she addressed the audience at the end of the show in her own beautiful voice it seemed a pity that she had adopted an accent for her portrayal of Tilly.
A confident, well-informed hour.
Fiona Orr
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