A one woman show set in Victorian Brighton has won an award which will see it jet off to perform in New York.
The show, called Betsy: Wisdom of a Brighton Whore, is a tale of “sex, seduction and survival” set in the underworld of 1800s Victorian Brighton.
The performance, produced by Something Underground Theatre Company, had a sell out run at Brighton Fringe Festival this year.
It won the International Fringe Encore Award sponsored by Soho Playhouse NYC, a theatre just off Broadway in New York, meaning it will now be shown in the Big Apple in December.
Isabella McCarthy Sommerville, 30, who plays Betsy and other characters in the one woman show, described the opportunity as a “dream” for her and the show’s writer and director Jonathan Brown.
She told The Argus: “The thing about this story is you will be surprised by it, it’s not just a raunchy show.
“It’s about humanity, voices from the past being represented now and untold tales from people who weren’t able to tell their stories.
“It’s amazing being able to perform it in New York, we feel incredibly grateful to have the opportunity to do that. We’re a small team, it has just been us two working on it.
“It’s the kind of thing you see people doing but you never think it will happen to you. To be able to show it to a whole new audience is very exciting. The show is a huge labour of love.
“Being able to bring it to an off-Broadway theatre is the dream.”
Isabella says the show is a women’s tale of 1800s Brighton and “struggling to survive in a male-dominated society in a time that was pretty unkind to women”.
The performance references many landmarks that still exist in the city today.
Isabella added: “She’s a working woman, it’s about the people she meets along the way, her struggles as a young mother and trying to make ends meet.”
Before leaving for New York, the performance is being shown at Brighton Fishing Museum Loft underneath the King’s Road Arches between Friday, November 18 and Sunday, November 20.
Isabella said the script was challenging when she first saw it but has taught her “a whole new skill set”.
She said: “It was daunting when I first saw the script but it is so rewarding, I play multiple characters within the show. It’s been such a challenge but so rewarding.”
Jonathan and Isabella worked together on the show in 2019, but like the rest of the industry had to completely stop due to the pandemic.
Jonathan Brown said: “It’s an understatement to say I’m excited to see Betsy returning, but I am feeling more than glad that several voices within the play continue to be heard, bringing the plights of the forgotten, the unheard, to the fore again.
“Mingled with the spine-tingling, timeless musical landscapes from the band Dragonsfly, the piece evokes an underworld upon which Brighton has partially been built.”
For more information, visit www.somethingunderground.co.uk
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