The reviews are in for Roleplay, the solo show written and performed by Hannah Reilly that sold out at the Edinburgh Fringe and has now transferred to Soho Theatre, where it runs until 21 November. Directed by Paige Rattray for Francesca Moody Productions and Global Creatures, it follows Danni, the host of a tiny sex-positive podcast who is offered a lucrative deal on condition that she turns herself into a “slutfluencer”. The critics are close to unanimous about Reilly as a performer – charismatic, physical and quick between voices – and far less united about the script, with several finding its ideas raised and then left undeveloped, and the comparison with Fleabag hanging over almost every notice.
3.1 / 5 from 9 criticsThe verdict: ten reviews in, nine of them with a rating: three four-star notices, four at three stars and two at two, for an average of 3.1 out of 5. British Theatre Guide gives no rating. Almost everyone admires Hannah Reilly’s performance; what divides the field is whether her script does anything with the many subjects it raises.
What are critics saying about Roleplay?
West End Best Friend
“A confident, biting triumph”
Reviewer: Jeff Mostyn
The most enthusiastic notice so far. Mostyn admires the premise as a modern Faustian pact in an attention economy, and praises the way the play questions how female sexual empowerment gets branded and sold. He thinks the darker turn arrives a little late, but finds the ending chilling.
“As a performer, Reilly is dynamic and truly alive. She juggles multiple live-wire voices deftly.”
He also credits Lucy Baker-Swinburn’s sound and Prema Mehta’s lighting.
London Box Office
“A fast-paced and engaging story that speaks to a broad demographic”
Reviewer: Francesca Shaw
Shaw enjoyed the satire of gender relations at work and found the mother-daughter relationship sensitively drawn. She says the show plays with the tension of an ensemble piece despite having one performer, and keeps the twists coming to the end.
“Reilly’s strong writing shines through the performance’s chaos and ferocity, conjuring suspense, purpose, and high stakes.”
All That Dazzles
“A one-woman-show about a feminist podcaster that is full of riches and demands your attention”
Reviewer: Daz Gale
Gale is impressed by how many themes the 70 minutes hold, from influencer culture to the price of compromising your own values, and by how much humour carries them. He wonders whether a longer running time would let every idea land, but never found it dull.
“It proves impossible to take your eyes off of Reilly throughout the performance”
The Standard
“The ensluttification of feminism laid bare”
Reviewer: Nick Curtis
Curtis thinks the Fringe hit looks thinner in London. He laughed often and calls Reilly a bold, engaging performer with a stand-up’s instincts, but finds the commentary on the attention economy glib, and the late swerve into something darker not fully earned.
“When it coalesces her writing has verve and raw wit. But too much here feels underdeveloped.”
The Reviews Hub
“Underwhelming feminist comedy”
Reviewer: John Cutler
Cutler gets plenty of early laughs and enjoys Reilly’s ease in switching between characters. His reservation is that by the end of the 70 minutes the play has not shown what really drives Danni, and a subplot about her boyfriend goes underexplored.
“in the end, ROLEPLAY feels as ephemeral and lacking in intimacy as the one-night stands it critiques.”
Theatre and Tonic
“Roleplay is saved by its final twenty minutes”
Reviewer: Eloise
Eloise found the opening shaky and too close to a stand-up set, and doubts the show stands out in a crowded field of solo plays. The last stretch, where Danni’s relationships are repaired, won her over, and she enjoyed the use of distorted microphones for the other voices.
“Hannah Reilly as a performer is strongly physical and holds command of the stage throughout.”
LouReviews
“A sense of the lost opportunity”
Reviewer: Louise Penn
Penn rates the performance, the direction and the design, and finds the show sharp on how female empowerment can be exploited for clicks. She is less convinced by the light treatment of sex work, coercive control and the mysterious figure who watches Danni.
“There is a lot to admire in Roleplay, notably Reilly’s performance, Paige Rattray’s committed and perceptive direction”
BroadwayWorld
“A predictable and shallow look at the perils of sex-positive entertainment.”
Reviewer: Cindy Marcolina
Marcolina finds Reilly charismatic and some one-liners razor sharp, but thinks the satire would have felt fresher ten years ago and that the show never really explores the sex work and kink it gestures at. The few moments of depth, she says, are buried under frivolity.
“Her delivery – in spite of her penchant for upspeak – is stronger than the actual script”
Liam O’Dell
“She loses herself – and the play loses its plot”
Reviewer: Liam O’Dell
The coolest response so far. O’Dell finds the pacing stop-start and much of the character comedy unfunny, and the lighting more abstract than the story needs. The two stars, he explains, are for a faint narrative arc and Lucy Baker-Swinburn’s sound design.
“intellectual ideas are presented to us without the necessary development, or any relevance being established.”
British Theatre Guide
“Clear, entertaining and politically illustrative”
Reviewer: Keith Mckenna
British Theatre Guide gives no star rating. Mckenna finds the show lively and clear about how sexual positivity can be turned into objectification for profit, but feels it skims the abusive boyfriend, the outraged mother and the bigger subjects it raises.
“it does so in a predictable, light way that never really explores the various plot elements”
Production photographs by Mihaela Bodlovic.
For more from Soho Theatre this autumn, read our roundup of HAM, our earlier news on Roleplay’s transfer from Edinburgh, and the latest Fringe arrival on Dean Street, Pink Rabbit.
Roleplay is booking at Soho Theatre until 21 November 2026.
