Alex Lyons is the chief theatre critic for a London newspaper.....
.....and his colleague Sophie Rigden is the junior culture writer and obituary writer. While Sophie's pieces tend to be bland and people-pleasing, Alex's reviews are sharp and zingy, and - if he doesn't like a show - cruel.
Right now, Alex and Sophie are away from London, reporting from the month-long arts festival of the Edinburgh Fringe.
Edinburgh Fringe
Alex and Sophie are staying in a large shabby flat the newspaper rents every year, a noisy place that smells from the communal rubbish bins three floors below.
Alex is assigned to review a one-woman show called 'Emergence - She', written and performed by Hayley Sinclair. The presentation, meant to be edgy and current, is about the climate emergency, the patriarchy, and the looming end of the world.
Alex HATES Hayley's show, and his review includes the following comments:
"The only thing to look at, for the entire hour, is an unfortunate person called Hayley Sinclair, droning....on and on and on....about how the world is getting hotter, and we're all going to die, and it's all the fault of corporations and governments mostly run by men."
"The best you can say about Hayley Sinclair's one-woman show about the looming climate apocalypse and its links to the patriarchy is that she's probably right. Yes, the world is probably going to end at some point. Unfortunately, Hayley herself is so tedious.....that after you've endured the first ten minutes of [the show], you'll be begging for the world to end much sooner than scheduled."
"The only thing I learned during Hayley's tirade was that sugar maple tree sap production is endangered by warming temperatures, which are making harvested maple sap less sweet, and ultimately causing it to lose it lose its taste entirely. Huh."
Alex pens his review immediately after Hayley's performance, gives the show one star out of five, and sends it to his newspaper.
Feeling peckish, Alex then walks to the Traverse Theatre Bar, where Hayley Sinclair happens to be relaxing after her debut. Alex and Hayley strike up a conversation and - though Alex knows he's written a vicious, personal, career-ending review of Hayley's show - he spends the night with her in his flat.
The next morning, when Sophie and Alex are in the kitchen, Hayley - showered and dressed - walks in, opens the newspaper, and sees the scathing review of her show beside a byline picture of Alex.
Hayley turns to the critic and asks, "You wrote this?" Alex tries to respond, but Hayley tells him "Just f*uck off" and storms out. Alex thinks he's off the hook, and has a good war story for his colleagues back in London, but he's VERY VERY WRONG.
That afternoon, signs for 'Emergence-She' are covered with new posters reading:
Now called: THE ALEX LYONS EXPERIENCE
Sophie, the narrator for this novel, goes to Hayley's new show and describes the experience. The performance opens with Hayley saying "You know how, every so often, one of your friends tells you a story about someone who's done something so horrible to them that at the end, you say, I cannot f*cking believe he did that? I'm going to tell you a story like that tonight."
Hayley DRAMATICALLY describes how Alex wrote a piece that would destroy her budding career, then f*cked her. Hayley goes on to completely eviscerate Alex and finally asks the audience, "Which of your friends has a horror story about a man like this? We've all got one, haven't we?"
When the women in the theatre respond 'YES YES YES', Hayley tells them to call their friends and tell them what Alex Lyons did, and who he really is, and that they're not alone.
The response is beyond viral: videos of Hayley's show multiply online; tickets sell out for the run of the show; newspapers run articles; Hayley is interviewed on television shows; hundreds of women write Hayley about their terrible experiences with men; etc.
Alex makes excuses to Sophie, explaining he didn't do anything wrong; people have one-night stands; Hayley enjoyed sleeping with him; yada yada yada. Alex thinks the 'scandal' will blow over, but the public condemnation (among women) continues to escalate.
It doesn't help that Alex is a nepo baby, son of the famous actress and director Dame Judith Lyons. Worse yet for Alex, scores of females publicize their own terrible experiences with the critic, exposing him as a heartless entitled creep who uses women then drops them like a hot potato. Alex has not only broken hearts, he's ruined careers and never looked back.
As Sophie tells the story, she also talks about herself. Sophie has an infant son Arlo with her partner Josh; is still mourning the death of her mother two years ago; and is ambivalent about her career as a culture writer.
Sophie understands female rage towards Alex but feels a bit sorry for him because Alex grew up amongst the neurotic, self-centered glitterati in Dame Judith's circle. Morevoer, Alex was second-string to his mother's career. Sophie knows this isn't an excuse for Alex's bad behavior, but he's a friend and colleague, and Sophie is torn.
Things play out as they will, with all the protagonists learning a little something about themselves.
This is a funny, insightful look at male entitlement; critics; the theatre world; parenthood; the newspaper business; the Edinburgh Fringe; and more. Highly recommended.
Street act at the Edinburgh Fringe
Thanks to Netgalley, Charlotte Runcie, and Doubleday for a copy of the book.
Rating: 4 stars
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