Review: Jessica Fostekew: Wench

Jess Fostekew, photo by Matt Stronge

After the defiant identity politics and thematic coherence of 2019's Edinburgh Comedy Award-nominated Hench, Jessica Fostekew's follow-up Wench is a much looser affair, a sort of point-by-point personal reassessment post-pandemic. She has experienced a significant amount of upheaval in her life over the last few years, leaving the father of her child for a woman, re-framing her attitude towards her body and after COVID, really struggling with small talk.

Deconstructing her social awkwardness has always been one of Fostekew's strongest suits and it's an effective, relatable icebreaker here. But after the powerful message of Hench, it suggests a relative lack of ambition that presages some of what follows. Fostekew is rarely less than engaging company. And there's some tremendous stuff in her observations on this being the best time in history to belatedly become queer, while her relationship with her Generation Z sister is equally potent for the perceptive age gap clash it inspires. But in truth, she gets a little bogged down in debates about words and attitudes that were once acceptable becoming less so. And her seeding of the reclamation of “bimbo” fails to develop into the big, takeaway point it's obviously meant to. Wide-ranging, Wench covers plenty of ground but probably too much, failing to explore enough routines in sufficient depth to be truly satisfying.