Filmed in 360 degrees by LIVR, and made available on the Pleasance Online platform at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, It Kind of Looks Like a Doughnut is the latest show from writer/producer Holly Boyden (who also appears as narrator/conscience etc, Sheela).
Two women, “one a kind of lesbian, one a kind of liability” are heading to the women’s sexual health clinic. They are long-timefriends, and one of them has something they need to address. These are Eva (Lisa Ronkowski( and Jo (Gemma Kenny), and bisexual Jo has found herself pregnant after cheating on her gay girlfriend with a man.
It’s a long wait, as Jo waits to deal with her options, and Eva struggles with her own perceptions of her body, puberty, and relationship with sex. Its startlingly honest script and characterisations challenges some of the preconceptions you may have about women’s sexuality and sexual health.
The clever staging and moments of solo musing (“when are you a woman”) make this a play which strides beyond the immediate discussions about abortion, puberty, and desire (“you don’t tell your girlfriend about your cock phase”).
The 360 filming requires interaction – in my case by moving my phone screen around. I would have preferred a certain amount of editing to do that for me, but it is a personal preference, and I quickly settled into the play without worrying about needing to ‘move’ around.
With excellent performances and moments that zoom into the minutiae of life (the clinic clock that clicks but does not move), It Kind of Looks Like a Doughnut considers holes and roles, tribes and friendships, the moments which define where we head in life.
Fringe rating: *** (and a half)
It Kind of Looks Like a Doughnut (directed by Natasha Kathi-Chandra) streams until 30 August at the Edinburgh Fringe: book your ticket here.