THEATRE / Notices: Watching and Weighting - Man in the Moon Theatre, London

Caroline Donald
Wednesday 09 December 1992 00:02 GMT
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Sally is a Size 24 when her husband leaves her. She loses five stone, starts a slimming club and tries (unsuccessfully) to convince herself that she is happier without both him and her extra poundage. When he fails to come running, she starts stuffing her face again until she realises that there is more to life than worrying about your waistline.

The message of the piece is loud, clear and stale as an old Swiss roll: self-esteem comes from within, not from a mirror reflection. As a side order, Susan Gott, writer and solo performer, manages to get in some sniping about the slimming industry and the money it makes out of fat people's misery.

Writing in a sub-Willy Russell/Alan Bennett style, Gott fails to echo their warmth and wisecracks or to address properly the more complex issues raised by Sally's obesity: why she came to be so large in the first place, and the serious health risks she was creating for herself. Watching and Weighting is all bulk and no substance.

To 19 Dec (071-351 2876)

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