What’s the story?

An illustrator making ends (just about) meet as a bike courier, Fin’s list of mistakes and misadventures looks likely to never end. Then a fateful revelation in the work toilets forces the twenty-something Fin to confront the idea of life as she’s known it being over, as another could be about to begin.

Ticket arranged by writer-performer Genevieve Labuschagne, in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Where is it playing?

Currently sold out at the Etcetera Theatre – https://camdenfringe.com/events/am-i-losing-my-mind-or-just-my-figure/

For future performances, follow the production on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/amilosingmymindorjustmyfigure/

Spoiler-Free Thoughts

In 2001, writer-performer Sam Holland-Bunyan’s Am I Losing My Mind or Just My Figure? debuted on the London stage, being named a Pick of The Pleasance after the success of its run in Edinburgh. Times have, of course, changed in the twenty-four years since, and with fringe theatre’s knack for zoning in on the current, on the concerts of the moment, it can be difficult to revive the same way more commercial efforts are re-mounted time and again.

Enter Genevieve Labuschagne, another writer-performer and Holland-Bunyan’s partner in launching Untethered, as whom they have remounted Am I Losing My Mind… in a reworked version. Here, Holland-Bunyan’s timeless themes surrounding the horrors and humours of modern womanhood, and the conflicting feelings around wanting to have a child but dreading actually having a child, have been given a contemporary edge through collaboration with Labuschagne both on and off-stage. The beating heart is still the same, but the lens through which we view it has been brought clearly and effectively into 2025.

A major success of this Am I Losing My Mind… is that it doesn’t feel as if two different writers were behind the script. On paper the character of Fin is distinct and vividly drawn, and I was relieved to find that the combined voices shaping this iteration of her seemingly did so without major clashes, and certainly without any disparities in her persona or presentation. Having pivoted from actor to director in the mid-aughts, Holland-Bunyan takes the reigns for this production, with a steady and assured hand guiding Labuschagne through the peaks and valleys of a particularly eventful year in Fin’s life. Her sense of when to bring the audience deeper into the moment and when to keep us at a careful arm’s length is masterful, and her use of the space is dynamic without creating too much distraction.

Allusions to Fin’s less-than-profitable work in illustration come courtesy of Holland-Bunyan’s animations, chiefly employed in a strong scene where Fin must tell her parents about the unexpected news. While Labuschagne brings the mannerisms and vocal qualities of both parents to life on stage, behind her the projected images help us to understand exactly the kind of older couple we ought to be picturing. Accompanied by an overstuffed sketchbook, these images ensure that Fin’s career aspirations are seen as still ongoing, and that the vocation hasn’t merely been plucked out of the air, mad-lib style. The videography, operated by Isabel Ornelas, is also used for a touching final sequence, one well-shot and masterfully directed, but which I can’t delve more deeply into should you have the chance to experience it yourself.

Of course, the performance itself is a one-woman show, and Genevieve Labuschagne proves more than up to the task of commanding an hour of our collective attention. Her background is physical theatre (recently winning her a part in the West End remounting of People, Places and Things) is on vivid display from the moment she enters the space, putting in immediate effect the scrappy but uncoordinated physicality that makes Fin, as she puts it, “the least efficient courier.” A natural with comedy and audience engagement – “I’m gonna keep looking at you,” she softly confirmed when performing a machismo caricature to a patron up front, keeping the comedic moment alive while setting her selected audience member at ease – Labuschagne also proves a mighty dramatic force, bringing to life the depth of feeling which allows her and Holland-Bunyan’s text to not overstate her cicumstances.

To end on a more personal note, I found the show’s frequent allusions and references to the late artist Melanie Safka, including the use of several of her songs genuinely touching. Rather than date the material, Fin’s adoration for the singer instead paints her somewhat as an old soul, and serves to further deepen our understanding on the kind of person she is. Granted, some will just feel that these were the songs chosen, that Safka was simply drawn from a hat or from Holland-Bunyan’s own tastes, but for whatever reason I couldn’t help but smile whenever Fin referenced her favourite singer, and feel more drawn to her thanks to this tiny nod to her personality and passions.

Rating and Final Thoughts

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Relevant. Reinvigorated. Restless.

This already strong, already deeply moving piece of work translates beautifully into a world so changed and yet so firmly the same. Neither assuming that the struggles of a woman in 2025 would go unchanged from 2001, nor showing the naivete to believe that enormous strides forward have been made, Am I Losing My Mind or Just My Figure? is a daring and deeply moving choice of shows to reshape and revive, and one which absolutely pays off.