The title of Maeve Higgins's show comes from, as she explains with a sheepish smirk, the Monday morning presentations Irish schoolchildren give to their classes about what they did on the previous weekend, kind of like abridged versions of What I Did On My Summer Holidays.

It’s certainly an apt title, given that watching her routine is akin to listening to a small, hyperactive schoolgirl talk about pretty much whatever pops into her head. Maeve Higgins employs the same rambling, free-association style which tiny people - getting very excited about all the weird new stuff that the world throws at them each day - often converse in. She's an engaging and subtle performer, but there's a slightly ominous undercurrent running underneath the superficial innocence she projects. From theories about how dry-cleaners are really evil shape-shifters who want to steal your clothes, to the stories of her grandfather (who also appears, albeit in recorded form, to read from the works of Irish poet Patrick Kavanagh), telling her as a child how the three neighbouring islands were populated by dangerous criminals and enormous child-stealing metal knights, it's beguiling material that's suffused with a nicely-judged garnishing of dark absurdism.

The format doesn't quite stretch over a whole hour, though. Maeve Higgins hardly pauses for breath during the whole performance – perhaps intended to recall the show's childlike themes, but it also invites tiredness and bewilderment at the relentless barrage of imagery to be processed. But things pick up near the end, where Irish playwright John B Keane’s bleak, violent tragedy The Field is reduced to a couple of minutes of knowing, silly mock-innocent skit, performed by a puppet cast of ghosts and robots Maeve Higgins has fashioned from scraps of linen and old tin cans (her own personal recycling initiative). Very flawed and very human, although My News can get lost in its own random silliness at times, it'd take a heart of stone to dislike this quietly charming, deceptively clever performance.

Cast Credits: Performer - Maeve Higgins.

Company Credits: Writer - Maeve Higgins. Director - uncredited. Technical Operator - Venue Staff. Company - edcom7. www.edcom7.com

END

(c) Dan Geary 2007

reviewed Tuesday 14 Aug 07 / Assembly @ George Street

Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2008