Review: JESSIE CAVE: SUNRISE, Soho Theatre Online

Intimately confessional stand-up shows are not new for Jessie Cave. Her 2015 I Loved Her detailed her relationship with fellow comic Alfie Brown after she became pregnant following their one-night stand. In 2018 she returned with Sunrise, about the aftermath of their breakup. Filmed in an empty Soho Theatre during the pandemic, this emotionally intelligent and bittersweet piece is now available to stream.

Throughout the hour, Cave presents an intimate and unflinching portrait of how she is addressing life and love as a co-parent, sleeping with new people, trying to work and to not feel guilty about being away from her "babies". The piece is also brutally funny, using everything from her competitive veganism to incredibly intimate details of the painful rash she develops after a Hollywood wax.

Cave aspires to control whilst juggling her feelings of incredible jealousy and outrage at Alfie's new sexual conquests. The skill of the writing is often about the smaller detail: she strokes Alfie's arm during a family outing to a museum just to portray the image of a happy, connected family. She obsesses about the brand of peanut butter his new lover buys and ponders whether choosing to watch a box set with her new boyfriend shows too much commitment.

The show feels immersive, particularly as most of it is written in the present tense. Cave also cleverly uses pillows embroidered with two faces to represent both Alfie and her unnamed new boyfriend to re-enact their conversations. There is no audience, apart from her sister, and yet the filmed version feels very personal.

The sharpness of the content is also starkly juxtaposed with Cave's rather wholesome appearance. Her oversized glasses, long plaits and multi-coloured fingernails don't quite match with the graphic details about sex, self-belief and relationships.

What makes the whole work so brilliantly are its sincerity and authenticity, both. It is stark, witty and poignant, but never once indulgent. Cave has a beguiling charm and seems gratifyingly unaware of just how good she is.

Jessie Cave: Sunrise is available from the Soho Theatre website until 8 June

Photo Credit: Soho Theatre On Demand

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