REVIEW: SEX CHAT GRANNY by Harriet Waterhouse, Camden Fringe at Etcetera Theatre 4 -11 August 2024

“At a certain point we’re greyed out of life.” ★★★

In this one woman show, Harriet Waterhouse turns in an accomplished performance as a phone sex worker, who just happens to be a granny. In-between speaking to various clients, she regales the audience with tales from her life, from her failed marriage to her dying mother who suffers with Alzheimer’s, shares her plans for the future and discusses the lonely men who call her and how she supplies a necessary service by being part of their sexual fantasies.

While the snippets of sex chat that we’re privy to are played for laughs and the unnamed character claims that what she’s doing is ultimately a service (e.g. comforting a lonely widower, or when she sees dick pics she has the urge to offer medical advice), its seedier connotations are glossed over. Should women be body positive? Yes. Are some of the men who actually use sex chat lines just lonely? Yes. But the problematic elements are never fully addressed and the debate about whether sex work is empowering vs exploitative remains unaddressed.

“Sex Chat Granny” is an interesting depiction of a woman largely ignored by society because of her age and greying hair - a biting commentary on society’s tendency to discard older women, as if desirability were their only contribution.

The titular character shows us herself in various roles - daughter, wife, mother, grandmother, employee and individual - with warmth and wit, so that seeing multiple sides of her is subversive in an understated way. In the end, she’s just trying to make ends meet, trying to live her life as fully as she can, and in so doing, tells herself and others stories to make the journey more bearable.

Box Office: https://camdenfringe.com/events/sex-chat-granny/

Instagram: sexchatgran

Annie Power is the Artistic Director of Open Page Productions, and an award-winning writer and producer.