Betsy [is] performed with passion and easy rapport by the Hove-based actor Rachel Guershon

Right from the start she blew us away. Bold. I suspect that Rachel might have done stand-up as well as conventional theatre, able to ad-lib and deal with hecklers...



Rachel Guershon had given us a vividly drawn portrait of a prostitute, but thus far it was still essentially stand-up. After Betsy got pregnant by one of the town worthies... she gave birth in the sea on the Brighton shingle. Now the performance became physical theatre, as Rachel squatted, groaned and strained through the agony of the birth-pangs, with a Scotswoman acting as midwife urging her to - "Push, Push." Rachel did the woman's Scots accent along with Betsy's, and it was hard to remember that we weren't actually watching two people on the small stage.



This theme was carried further, as Rachel gave us a series of women, each recounting her squalid birth ... Different women, with accents from all over the country, but with a common experience of poverty and degradation. Rachel did them standing, squatting and lying on their backs, and each one seemed to appear like a ghost out of the shadows, giving testimony before fading back into the darkness... The sequence lasted less than three or four minutes, but I know it will haunt me for years...

At one point Betsy is saved from an assault and taken to her rescuer's room to recover. This was a truly astonishing piece of physical theatre, Rachel lying in a chair, panting with fear and the after-effects of strangulation, and at the same time giving us the gruff voice and comforting gestures of her saviour. Once again, it was very difficult to keep in mind that we were watching a single performer... an awesome piece of physical theatre in an intimate space that put us really close to the performer.

Rachel Guershon is truly a woman to watch.

Try to catch her if you can.

Rachel Guershon is great as Betsy, a spectacularly foul-mouthed but deeply flawed woman...Guershon is a wonderfully physical actor, and one of the highlights comes early in the play when she is giving birth to her son. You can really feel the pain and fear in her performance.

Rachel Guershon ... [gives] a focused and intensive performance. Guershon’s humour, mixing of roles and physical dramatics were the most powerful aspects of the play, with juddering coaches, bawdy mimicry and on stage birth adding comedy and hysteria. Her portrayal of Betsy’s upper class tormentor was so well observed you feel you’ve met him before, soaking in Sloane Square.

Betsy is brash, unapologetic, and likable, which Guershon plays powerfully, questioning the audience with confession and accusation. Wide eyes and gesticulation, along with light physical comedy...bring[ing] the audience to laughter on several occasions.