17-03-2025
In ‘Weather Girl,' Climate Change Sets Off a Meltdown
At the Soho Theater in London, a beleaguered weather reporter is giving double meaning to the phrase 'hot mess.'
The setting is drought-stricken Fresno, Calif., where temperatures are sweltering and wildfires rage on the city outskirts. The presenter, Stacey Gross, has a telegenic glamour and some peppy catchphrases, but underneath is an angst-ridden functioning alcoholic who secretly quaffs Prosecco on the job. She suspects her TV station is misleading viewers about the role that climate change has played in the fires, and as the heat wave progresses she has a meltdown, embarking on a cathartic, booze-fueled rampage featuring wanton destruction, kidnapping and karaoke.
'Weather Girl' has arrived in London amid plenty of hype, following a successful run at last year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The show's producer, Francesca Moody, has a knack of turning Fringe plays into television hits — she was behind 'Fleabag' and 'Baby Reindeer' — and a Netflix adaptation of 'Weather Girl' is already in development, according to the trade publication Deadline.
The show's title character is played by Julia McDermott, who also takes several other parts in this lively but slightly undercooked one-woman show, an irreverent but serious climate change allegory that runs through April 5. The show's title character has a telegenic glamour but underneath is an angst-ridden functioning alcoholic who secretly quaffs Prosecco on the job. Credit... Pamela Raith
Wearing a bright blouse, hot pink skirt and heels, McDermott performs on a bare stage, with just a colored screen behind her as an allusive backdrop. Her only prop is a trusty Stanley Tumbler. Over the course of 60 frenetic minutes, her character regales the audience in a fraught, high-tempo monologue about Stacey's escapades in drinking holes with names like Malibu Nights and the Antelope Lounge.
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