Review – Me&Her

By Andreea Helen David .

‘Me&Her’ is a baptism of fire for Nico Marica. An extremely difficult undertaking for the Romanian that only just landed in London uh oh…another immigrant. A wordy play and with only Nico, who plays Leylah, to keep us occupied…and oh boy does she. 

Yes this story is about escapism and the reality of broken expectations. London through the eyes of the immigrant that just wants to work and to have a nice life. But in the background of all this is the mother-daughter relationship, a fiery, highly intelligent and rather rebellious daughter and a worried, quite strict mother.  But details of their relationship remain behind as we’re in London with Leylah. 

The show starts with little Leylah, whom Nico plays without being ridiculous and that’s not easy and continues through the stages of teen and young adulthood.  Nostalgia is a word that kept popping in my head as I was watching, those moments that are long gone but we all identify with, the day at the fair, first love, the first moment of independence.  Nico’s Leylah has the ability to pull us in and make us feel her friend. The conversational quality of the text (Nico also worked on the text) and the actress’ honest and warm delivery gives an intimacy into Leyla’s world. I particularly liked how Nico portrays the people that had an impact in Leylah’s life.

The show is directed by Anca Vaida, who also had a hand in devising the play and I felt the direction was rather cinematic and the use of space very clever, but I have a soft spot for someone that can use a small stage creatively and sometimes even go beyond the stage. 

Me&Her is about a lot, is extremely complex and although it is seemingly the life of a person actually the writers have merged several real women and immigrant stories. 

Me & Her is the voice of many, it’s a show for the ages.  

‘Me&Her’ 

One woman show

12th, 13th, 19th, 20th of June at Barons Court Theatre, W14 9HR

£15/£10 Tickets  https://www.baronscourttheatre.com/upcoming-performances