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★★★
A neighbourhood coffee shop is the focus of the one-person musical comedy show ‘Confessions of a Redheaded Coffeeshop Girl’ which is at Gilded Balloon as part of this year’s Edinburgh Fringe. Starring writer and performer Rebecca Perry, the show is back at the festival for its 10th anniversary, complete with a detailed rundown of the customers and events at a Toronto café. Combining observational comedy, energetic voice work and some superb vocals, it is easy to see why this multi-genre piece was popular when it premiered in Edinburgh, but I found the themes to be slightly dated in 2025.
Coffee shop encounters
At the start of the show the audience is asked to cast their minds back to the 2010s, as this is when the story is set. The show opens with a joke about the second generation iPhone and this immediately made me realise quite how much things have changed since 2014. Faced with almost no employment opportunities utilising her Anthropology degree, Joanie takes a role as a barista at a local coffee shop, with the hope that this will be a temporary arrangement. She passes the time by imagining that the customers are ‘creatures’ and part of her very own fictional field work. In terms of future goals, she wants to spread her wings and follow in the footsteps of her idol, zoologist and anthropologist Dr. Jane Goodall.
Overall relatability
Whilst the themes of a lack of employment opportunities and the role of the coffee shop environment have the power to be even more relatable in 2025, for me the material is let down by Joanie spending so much time comparing the customers to animals. Even though the sentiment is there for comedic effect and to highlight the character’s passion for wildlife research, it grows tiresome after a while and reduces the supporting characters to caricatures.
A light-hearted comedy that could benefit from a refresh
There is no doubt that Rebecca Perry is an incredibly talented performer and writer, but I believe the material could benefit from some updates, considering how present day audiences might perceive Joanie and her wildlife-focused imagination. You can catch ‘Confessions of a Redheaded Coffeeshop Girl’ at the Doonstairs venue in Gilded Balloon Patter House until 25th August (not 13th and 20th). Performances start daily at 16:00 and tickets are available via the festival’s website.
*My ticket for ‘Confessions of a Redheaded Coffeeshop Girl’ was gifted in exchange for an unbiased review.
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