Yoga training can be a bitch

It's difficult to grasp where writer/performer Suzanne Morrison is going with her one-woman show Yoga Bitch. Part theatrical monologue and part stand-up comedy, it's based on Morrison's search for her 'higher self'. The pitfalls of her training as a yoga teacher in Bali provide the comedy fodder.

The premise is focused enough but the show's contradictions leave you confused. The Seattle performer presents the Bali yoga retreat both as a haven and a hell - where she's an avid pupil and disdainful of the discipline's restrictions.

That Morrison never reaches any conclusions on either yoga or the human desire for self-improvement is frustrating. A brilliant moment where she's torn between her spiritual self and her absolute need for a Prada handbag is a comic highlight but it's also a missed opportunity to comment more keenly on our materialistic tendencies.

As solo shows go, Yoga Bitch is a lot of fun. Morrison offers an assured performance, capturing humour with enthusiastically executed character comedy and delivering an excellent physical performance that breathes life into Jean-Pierre Brown's spa-like set.

Yoga Bitch may not be as enlightening as a course of spiritual betterment but it's certainly a lot more entertaining.

Until Aug 25, Theatre 503, 503 Battersea Park Road SW11, Tue to Sat 8pm, Sun 5pm, £12, £7 concs, Tue pay what you can.
Tel: 020 7978 7040.
www.theatre503.com
Rail: Clapham Junction

Yoga Bitch
Theatre 503
503 Battersea Park Road, SW11 3BW