National Theatre Live: Fleabag

A stage recording of Phoebe Waller-Bridge's one-woman play. Fleabag was a theatre text first. Waller-Bridge staged it in Edinburgh in 2013; the television series came afterwards. This recording is from the London staging in 2019. There is one person on stage and one stool. No set, no costume changes, no other actors. Waller-Bridge narrates every character herself and speaks straight to the audience. The move that the series makes by looking into the camera is here at its source, and barer. The text covers the same events as the series' first season without matching it line for line. The recording was shown in cinemas and part of the proceeds went to charity. For admirers of the series and anyone curious about solo theatre, this means going back to the source. For a viewer expecting film language, this is not a film; the camera records the stage and the whole of the interest is carried by the text and the performer.