REVIEW: Fickle Eulogy by Nikol Kollars, Camden Fringe at The Hope Theatre
‘Alexa, what would my mum say to that?’
A beautifully-crafted tribute to mothers around the world. ★★★★
This fantastically moving and warm play follows Ann, as she prepares to host a celebration of her mother’s life, struggling with how to craft the best eulogy. Nikol Kollars is able to capture the frustration in not being able to find the words to reflect how you feel at a time like this. The audience watches as Ann moves through a variety of well-written stories and characters as she searches for the right words, and portrays the different stages of grief in a truly engaging way.
Set within a ‘eulogy simulation’, the automated ‘Alexa’ voice works well to mediate the upsetting stories and themes, and offers light relief at appropriate intervals. ‘Alexa’ is used sparingly enough to accompany Ann’s thoughts and occasionally respond to her remarks, but also reminds us that most eulogies sadly follow the same script, and tell the same stories.
The passing of Ann’s mother – a COVID denier - from COVID 19 is an especially moving addition and adds a whole other level of frustration for Ann. Looking in on her mother’s life, Ann learns to forgive her mother’s mistakes. The audience is faced with the memory of someone whose life ended in this way, giving into lies and misinformation, but whose daughter is still able to pay tribute to her by remembering the beautiful parts of her life.
Ann occasionally questions whether her mother is listening, and leads her to ask the age-old question, ‘who is this for, anyway?’ Is a funeral for the living, or for the dead – and, if for the living, why can it not be a celebration? Ann acknowledges that actually celebrating a death doesn’t make sense, and so there is a beautiful balance of mourning and revisiting memories. The passage on Christmas is one I found particularly moving, the set and props used perfectly to illustrate Ann’s experience.
The dialogue is well-crafted and always fits well within the structure of the play. Despite the dialogue being creative and – at times – quite funny, it is very rarely overused; silence and meditation are also important parts of this play.
Kollars’ performance is fantastic, and she is able to conduct the show from an incredibly small space, with various props at arm’s length around her. Kollars has created an emotionally and physically demanding role that is well-suited to the genre, and to the theatre space, too.
Fickle Eulogy reminds the audience that, while we grow up idolising our parents, they’re only human; a wonderful song of praise for mothers everywhere.
Photography: Isadora Baccon
Fickle Eulogy at The Hope Theatre 16 – 18 August 2025
Written and performed by – Nikol Kollars
Directed by - Javier Galitó-Cava
Reviewer Seb Gardiner
Seb is a playwright currently based in Reading.
