Tessa Coates: Witch Hunt

• Suzanne Black
• 6 August 2018

This article is from 2018.

Marco Vittur

A meandering foray around biology, evolution and shopping

Tessa Coates is determined to get her money's worth from her anthropology degree by following last year's show, which took an in-depth look at relationships by delving into who we are as a species and who she is in particular.

The first half of Witch Hunt meanders quite a bit around the loose theme of Coates trying to find herself. Forays into biological or evolutionary theory are definite highlights being both genuinely educational and well-integrated into her comedy, but the show falls down a little with a generalisation about Americans being self-obsessed, and too much time spent on the already much picked-over idea that Disney princesses are not great role models for girls.

The second half focuses on the larger issues and daily indignities of being a woman nowadays and, although presented in a cohesive and compelling manner, again suffers a little from a lack of originality in its observations. This raises questions over whom the show is aimed at: those who are aware of the lack of pockets on clothes labelled for women versus those labelled for men won't find her observations surprising, while those who are not aware, probably don't care.

Pleasance Courtyard, until 26 Aug, 3.30pm, £7.50–£10 (£7–£9).