Yoga With Jillian
Pleasance
FOUR STARS
Having just embarked on my own yoga journey I thought what better way to help me further my practice? This one-woman-show is sharp, hilarious, slick and excellently written. I was belly-laughing, as well as indulging in soul-searching.
Michelle Biancasino is marvellous as Jillian, a yoga instructor who will do just about anything to find her Zen. She’s beautifully sarcastic, with striking comedic timing and audience adaptability. Until recently, she worked at a top law firm, lived in a perfect apartment, had friends but was desperately unhappy. After one yoga retreat, and then another, and another nothing really changed deep down she tell us. But Jillian is doing really ‘well’ at surface level. Wellness culture has served her really, well, well. Her colon is toxin free, which is a huge achievement.
Her mind? Not so much. When she began her instructing career – her Chakra-led vocation – Covid-19 hit hard, and she lost everything. She couldn’t find sustainable work, her health deteriorated, and she continued a battle with Long Covid. That symptomatic brain-fog provides hilarious gags, though, and the online yoga class she hosts throughout isn’t without chaos.
Playwright Lia Romeo has approached existentialism with a new wit and refreshing force. We watch Jillian unravel before us, whilst teaching a yoga class made of real audience members. I sat smug, watching them plank for the whole of one of Jillian’s emotional tirades as she forgets to instruct them on their next move. They’re sweating and we’re giggling away. Jillian’s story grows darker as the piece progresses, and becomes an Everyman tale of the pandemic struggle. Lives lost, finances destroyed, economic crisis, careers thrown away – these have been the devastating outcomes for so many of us. But there’s this weighted quilt of rhetoric smothering us, telling us that if we cleanse and breathe and consume and stretch our way to inner peace, all will be solved. It’s not the case Ms Paltrow: we’ve cottoned on to the con.
Biancasino is hilarious and watchable, devouring Romeo’s script with vigour. It’s a cohesive, meta, symbolic and layered show that will leave you feeling pretty introspective. It’s a brilliant piece and I urge you to catch it. We need to reflect on those Covid years and delve into what we need to fix. Sometimes celery juice just isn’t the answer.
Until August 28
Grace Sansom is working with The Herald for the duration of the Edinburgh Festival as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe's prestigious Emerging Critics Scheme
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here