Chokeslam

Monday 4th August 20.45

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Next it is to Daisy at Underbelly, Bristo Square for Tegan Verheul’s one woman show, Chokeslam, about her love of wrestling, and how it has changed her life. . It starts with a bang as Verheul powers onto the stage dressed in full wrestling gear, if you know your wrestling think Tiffany Stratton, if you don’t think ‘Slamela Anderson’ as she told us she had recently been described. So looking every inch the Wrestling Superstar, Verheul leads the audience in some WWE style cheering and ‘Yeeting’ (look it up) to get us all going.

The story tells of how she found her love of ‘Sport Entertainment', inherited from her boyfriend, later husband and how her relationship with one of them broke down whilst the other remains to this day. The friends and friendships she made along the way, the wrestlers she admires and how your real-life storyline can sometimes be more heart-breaking than being screwed in Montreal (again, look it up). At times some of the parallels between the sport and Verheul’s story seem a little forced but on the whole it works, she is a great storyteller, is really engaging, has an obvious love for her subject and her performance is packed with serious emotion and culminates in an unexpected heel turn that leave you wondering who is the babyface here (you know the rest!)

This is absolutely a show for anyone that has ever had any interest in wrestling, but there is also more than enough here for anyone that doesn’t know their arse from their elbow drop.  Verheul’s performance has all of the highs and lows you could want from a one-person show, someone put a title on her. (CB)

Chokeslam is playing daily (not 11th) at Underbelly, Bristo Square until 25th August - details here