REVIEW: Rosie’s Brain by Evelyn Rose at The Hope Theatre 4 – 8 February 2025

‘interesting and moderately entertaining show’ ★★★

This gentle, low key show does exactly what it says on the tin. It gives us insights into Rosie’s brain – which has “issues” - in a 60 minute musical and spoken monologue.

Rosie has compulsions as a toddler, insisting, for example on ducking under the bathwater but hating it. Always, according to her mother, an “eccentric”, she later can’t talk to boys because of excessive anxiety. She compulsively confesses to absurdly minor misdemeanours. Sessions with three therapists lead to diagnoses of GAD (Generalised Anxiety Disorder) and OCD which comes, we learn, in many forms and isn’t just about washing your hands. Eventually there’s a three year relationship with a young man called George until his issues clash with hers and it all goes pear-shaped. It’s quite sad.

Evelyn Rose, a Californian who completed an MA in Musical Theatre at Cental School of Speech and Drama last year, is an accomplished multi-roler. Her voice work and flexible face enable her to deliver a whole raft of characters without fuss. 

She is also a singer, delivering her thoughts and emotions in plaintive songs which she has written as part of the piece. It works reasonably well – with pleasing work from Laoise Fleming, delicately on keys behind her. Sometimes she accompanies herself delicately on guitar or ukulele, occasionally in duet with Fleming.

The most impressive thing she does in the entire show is to sing a song unaccompanied, having pitched it from nowhere, Then Fleming picks it up and it’s in tune, thus demonstrating that it was 

pitch perfect. Few singers can do this.

It’s an interesting and moderately entertaining show but it feels a bit monochrome and underpowered partly because it’s all, so to speak, on one note with little narrative trajectory. 

Rosie’s Brain at The Hope Theatre 4 – 8 August 2025

BOX OFFICE https://www.thehopetheatre.com/rosie-s-brain 

Written and performed by Evelyn Rose

Co-directors Lucrezia Galeone & Josh Vaastra

Musical Director: Laoise Fleming