REVIEW: DARKIE ARMO GIRL by Karine Bedrossian at Finborough Theatre, 25 Nov - 7 Feb 2026
“Sparky, engaging, confident performance.” ★★★
A production supported by the Cultural Section of the Cyprus High Commission, Darkie Armo Girl is ‘a true story’ and tells the story of Karine, a woman born to Armenian parents who flee Cyprus to the UK during the 1974 Turkish invasion. In the programme, an entire page is devoted to the Armenian Genocide, as well as a list of famous Armenians from Cher to Kim Kardashian, all informative and absorbing.
So, it’s surprising that this one woman show, first performed at the Finborough Theatre in 2022, written and performed by Karine Bedrossian - as herself - brushes over this highlighted, significant context. You don’t get what you think you will. In many ways, a very different play emerges. While, there are gender, sexual and body politics aplenty, these are more universal than culturally specific.
Bedrossian gives a sparky, engaging and confident performance in this autobiographical one woman show. Darkie Armo Girl tells the story of a West London girl who keenly feels her status as an outsider. These perceived threats in her current life, with suggestions of intergenerational trauma, are turned in on themselves, as Karine finds herself from the age of eight in a spiral of self-loathing that eventually leads to eating disorders. She seeks endorsement, escape, identity, autonomy and self-expression with dreams of being a famous singer. Will it happen?
As we travel with Karine through the twists and turns of her journey, many challenges present, physical, mental, emotional, financial. She navigates a man’s world: bullied, abused, coerced, groomed, exploited. From family members to producers, punters and partners, it’s men who hold the cards, brandish the penis or threaten with a bread knife.
In this autobiographical sharing, it’s men who have the power; the various women peppered throughout are entertaining asides.The closing scene that involves an innovative collapsing set (Designer, Mim Houghton; Associate Designer; Juliette Dimoulin) leave us with the sense that Karine has reached a place where she can finally control her world instead of being controlled by it.
Darkie Armo Girl is a long ninety minutes, perhaps because it’s overloaded with excessive detail and situation. Less could be more with some linking up of the Armenian context with the personal story and spacing out and editing of key emotional beats.
Specific childhood memories on return trips to the “hillbilly” Cyprus, offer some of the richest material. The most powerful and disturbing image is of a mentally handicapped girl there, tied to a chair in the heat, kept in an outhouse like an animal. This poor young woman, inert, vulnerable and trapped is an image that recurs throughout Karine’s journey, who exists in her mind long after the girl has inexplicably vanished and speaks to her own desire to be accepted, seen, heard, loved. It’s a message that will resonate with many - of all geographical delineations.
Darkie Armo Girl
by Karine Bedrossian
Finborough Theatre until 7 February
