‘Nan, Me & Barbara Pravi’ is excellent one-woman theatre about finding distraction in celebrity crushes and where obsession may lead
Hannah Maxwell’s Nan, Me & Barbara Pravi has made its Adelaide Fringe debut at Adelaide College of the Arts and is a hidden gem of a show we highly recommend you see.
Hannah Maxwell spent 2021 in Luton, Bedforshire, in the UK looking after her Nan, following the death of her grandfather. In between sorting pills into their required timeslots, including ever-changing doses of warfarin, and visits from the imposing, oversharing neighbour Susan, Hannah finds escape in a fantasy world. All sparked by one Eurovision contestant: France’s 2021 entry Barbara Pravi.
Pravi becomes Hannah’s obsession as she slides down a rabbit hole of obsessively learning everything about her, and sets herself on a mission to read Pravi’s favourite books in their original French (even though she doesn’t speak the language, yet). She hatches a plan to try to accidentally-on-purpose meet Pravi at her concert in 6 months time, which involves following all of Pravi’s friends on social media in the hope that one may reveal where she is, where the after-concert party is.
Hannah’s storytelling is poetic. Her descriptions vivid. Her emotions at times raw. Describing Eurovision as the place where “inebriated queers get knowledge of world politics” is both very funny and also telling. The sinking couch on which she sits at her Nan’s house is described as having “one cushion valley carved by my grandfather over the years”.
The second part of the play takes us back to Hannah’s beloved London “the best city on Earth” as she gets back into performing and finds herself with her own obsessive fan, who attends the show nightly. Getting to live her own life again, Hannah doesn’t just do fantasies about meeting and seducing Barbara Pravi obsessively, everything in her life is to excess. And that has consequences.
Hannah’s brain misfiring because it’s over-stimulated is effectively portrayed through loud zapping sounds combined with bright flashes of light projected at the back of the stage.
Nan, Me & Barbara Pravi is a one-woman show. Nan’s part in conversations is heard via a recording (Angela Dunham did the voiceovers), conversations with annoying neighbour Susan are heard only through Hannah’s short answers “oh dear”, “oh God”, “oh no”.
Hannah gently asks audience members to participate in the show, whether it be reading out cooking instructions as if on Good Morning Britain, or helping her sort the considerable number of pills her Nan takes – it requires “military grade precision with life and death stakes” quite literally.
You don’t need to have any knowledge of who Barbara Pravi is, or to be a fan of Eurovision to appreciate this show. It’s multilayered and just when you think you know what’s going to happen, it will surprise you.
Nan, Me & Barbara Pravi is on in The Stables (not actual stables), on level 3 of the Adelaide College of the Arts building. This venue often puts on fantastic shows and it’s such a shame that people don’t venture further than the big venues in the Eastern parklands to check it out. This is a show deserving of a full audience.
Nan, Me & Barbara Pravi is for anyone who has ever looked after someone, for anyone who has ever developed a crush on a famous person, for lovers and non-lovers of Eurovision alike. If you’re into great theatre, this is a must see.
We’d give it douze points if we could, but will have to settle for 5 croissants instead.