REVIEW: Claire Dowie’s Swansong – See Primark and Die at Finborough Theatre 10 June – 5 July 2025

“Hilarious and somehow disturbing exploration of disposable consumerism, with hints of Black Mirror” ★★★

Returning to where it all began, acclaimed writer/performer Claire Dowie brings a retrospective repertoire of some of her greatest hits to the Finborough Theatre.

In one of these pieces, See Primark and Die (Buy Little, Buy Less, Buy Nothing at All), Dowie uses her unique “stand-up theatre” style to tell us the story of an ordinary, bargain-loving, and slightly “frayed at the edges” woman’s descent into the liberating madness of a new, secret epidemic called Shopophobia. Suppressed by the media, the illness is spreading through the population causing an unspoken Jedi revolution of scavengers and zero wasters. It’s a deeply intelligent and deceptively madcap monologue that is as relevant today, if not more so, with even more “tat” having moved online, as it would have been when it debuted in 2010.

Beginning with a sudden panic attack in one of her favourite places, Peckham Primark, Dowie’s character finds herself experiencing a series of unusual occurrences, from knowing strangers to a laundry-line apparition, that take her into this black hole of shopping terror. What then follows is a sometimes hilarious and somehow disturbing exploration of disposable consumerism, with hints of Black Mirror or JG Ballard’s societal breakdown dystopia, High-Rise.

I wonder if some of the more bleak political realities of globalised fast fashion have come to light in the years since it was originally performed and if reference to any of these could enhance the piece, not to mention the influx of AI-generated products currently flooding the internet. But nonetheless there’s certainly enough in there already to make a pitch-perfect satire of isms: quirky British shopping habits, capitalism, materialism, environmentalism.

Overall, this is a tricky one though. Dowie is undoubtedly a huge talent with a distinguished career and a charismatic stage presence. The content of the piece is excellent and she’s naturally funny. But because of the fusion of stand-up with monologue, it can be difficult to know what’s fumbled and what’s deliberate: is something a stylistic innovation or just a mistake? In this case, quite frequently bungled lines have the potential to add to the performance, to be used to its advantage in creating character, tone, and form. If anything, this technique is actually required for that mode of storytelling. Here, though, I must admit that I found it distracting. Though I loved her personal style, it’s hard to achieve complete immersion if you find yourself concerned that lines, and often really good ones, are going to be forgotten, or fluffed, or rushed.

Now, I wonder if some of that is because Dowie has undertaken the admirable task of performing many different monologue pieces at the same time throughout the season. And I also wonder if this is one of those rare cases where someone else’s interpretation of her brilliant text might bring it to life in a different way – incidentally, there have been many other international performances of it, as well as in Italian and German, and a large-cast version coming up later in the year. And I also wonder if some of that is just me – maybe I haven’t fully “got” the performance style. Or maybe, given that it’s her swansong, her heart isn’t as totally in it as it might have been.

It is, in any case, warm, authentic, intelligent and without pretension, a rare piece of theatre. And I call that a bargain.

Photography: Colin Watkeys

See Primark and Die (Buy Little, Buy Less, Buy Nothing at All)

Written by Claire Dowie

Directed by Colin Watkeys

Finborough Theatre, 10 June – 5 July 2025

Box Office: https://finboroughtheatre.co.uk/production/claire-dowies-swansong/

Reviewed by Alix Owen