In Weather Girl, climate change causes meltdowns

At Soho Theatre in London, plagued weather reporters give the phrase “hot mess” a double meaning.

The setting is a drought-hit Fresno, California, where temperatures swell and wildfires are raging in the city's suburbs. Presenter Stacey Gross has a telegenic charm and a lively on-screen persona, but beneath it is an uneasy, functional alcoholic who secretly shakes Prosecco into his work. She suspects that TV stations are misleading viewers about the role climate change played in the fires, and as the heat wave progresses, she embarks on a cathartic liquor-fueled rampage featuring unfair destruction, lump and karaoke.

After a successful run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe last year, “Weather Girl” arrived in London amid a lot of hype. The show's producer Francesca Moody has the knack for turning Fringe's play into a television hit — she was behind “Fleabag” and “Baby Reindeer” — according to the Trade Publication deadline, Netflix adaptation for “Weather Girl” is already in development.

The title character of the show is played by Julia McDermott. Julia McDermott has taken in several other parts in this vibrant but slightly uncooked single woman show.

Wearing a bright blouse, hot pink skirt and heels, McDermott performs on a naked stage. Her only prop is the trustworthy Stanley Tumbler. During a 60-minute crazy minutes, her character climbs the audience again with bewildered high-tempo monologues about the escape of Stacey, a drinking hole named Night in Malibu and the Antelo Plounge.

During one vendor, she got caught up in a karaoke bar, directing the tweets of the 1979 hit “Escape (The Song of Pina Colada).” The other is a thwarting dating with a charming high-tech entrepreneur and intentionally summed up his expensive sports car. She then imprisons him in the trunk of her own car.

The story triggers a reconciliation with Stacey's estranged mother. She is an eccentric down and out that turns out to be blessed with gifts. She can evoke water from the thin air. This power is genetic, but Stacey needs to change her outlook before taking advantage of it. “Wisdom” is the content of the mother, and is “primitive” that undermines vanity. It's a lighter profit. ”

Swaying at the encounter, Stacey tries to recreate the self-realization. “I'm not a weather reporter. I'm fluff, I'm a hype guy, I'm a used car salesman” – she decides to take action. The fire closed and many city residents chose to place it, noting that the nanny was in Scarmongeling. Stacey's station manager instructs her to downplay the danger, but she delivers a desperate, on-air monologue that goes wrong and persuades people to evacuate, saving countless lives. And lo! Her travel mug is magically filled with water. After all, is there hope for humanity?

With a message of negative lightness and redness, “The Weather Girl” is no less heavier than other climate change satires, like the 2021 film “Don't Look Up,” which aims to be a sardonic disappointment. But humor, which comes mainly from Stacey's riotously self-destructive antics, gradually dry out as moral streets crystallize.

The script by Brian Watkins (“outer range”) is patchy. The explanation is not too vague when Stacey says that her dinner date has begun at “this California location.” It feels like the owner of a lazy place. A purely chaotic esprit can be very useful in the Edinburgh Fringe. There, crowds are often disposed of by poor shows of big character. West End theatre attendees may be difficult to please.

The show's central concept has the potential, and its premise is especially timely after the recent wildfires in California. On the right hand, it inspires a perhaps captivating TV series, leaning against the magical realist oddity of the story, evoking sparkling, soft-focus urban views, enthusiastic bar room scenes, and rich textured mother-daughter dynamics. However, in the current iteration, “Weather Girl” is sandwiched between two stools. It's not consistently interesting enough to captivate you as a comedy. And as a drama, it is portrayed too thinly to transport audiences.

McDermott's incredible charisma makes the most of the material, but there's not much she can do on her own.