Part of the Women Writers Festival at the Etcetera Theatre, The Extraordinary Life of a Rat Racer returns to London after last year’s run at Voila! (read our interview).
Writer Chiara Fumanti and director Andrea Guerini both perform in this piece, a quirky, ink-black, and challenging look at trauma, mental health, and the ugly thoughts within us.
The audience feel the tension from the start, as balloons are popped and an actor breaks the fourth wall, reminding us their inanimate supporting cast are down to budget.
Eva (Fumanti) is an Italian immigrant to London, a teacher, and single mother to a six-year-old son. She is plagued by flashback memories of an incident in her past,
The writing is visceral, gory, unsettling, disturbing. Eva takes the District Line, fields calls from her overbearing mother, misses appointments, all under the shadow of Arthur (Guerini), her grotesque nemesis and conscience.
Veins are sliced, brains spill, earlobes are shredded. Eva’s mental state is clearly tied to physical manifestation of her thoughts. Physical acts she sees clearly, which Arthur recounts with glee under a wash of red light.
Balloons of various colours dot the stage, scrawled over with names, phrases, little faces. They are there to float, beleabour, or burst. It’s a clever trick to orchestrate moments of tension.
With a very small team – Fumanti is also assistant director, producer and marketing; Guerin designs the sound and co-designs the lighting (with Francesco Angeloni) – this show is clearly a deeply personal piece.
The balance between Eva and Arthur is carefully drawn throughout this 50-minute piece, as she grows the strength she needs to manage in her life. The trauma, so detailed in its depiction, doesn’t feel fully integrated, yet, but that’s easy to fix – if the team want to.
The Extraordinary Life of a Rat Racer is fast-paced, blankly funny, and pleasingly weird. It’s great to hear it is heading to the Edinburgh Fringe this summer, and it is crowdfunding for this here.
I’m giving this 3.5 stars. Keep an eye on these two.
The Extraordinary Life of a Rat Racer is at Etcetera Theatre until 10 Mar 2026, then at Bridge House Theatre on 21-25 Apr, and Barons Court Theatre on 30 Jun-4 Jul.
Photo credit: William Kenny