Weather Girl

Weather Girl is a new play by Brian Watkins performed by Julia McDermott. It is a dark comedy which tells the story of Stacey Gross who is a Californian ‘weather girl’ who finds herself reporting on a wildfire which soon descends into huge amounts of destruction.

It is really difficult to review this play without giving away too many spoilers so read on with this warning. The story told by Watkins goes into truly bizarre and unexpected territory as Gross unravels due to the horrors she has witnessed in her job, she unexpectedly reunites with her presumed missing birth mother who is homeless after being involved in a violent car crash. This is when the story becomes brilliantly chaotic, if sometimes confusing.

This play is truly made on the performance of Julia Watkins who plays the titular ‘weather girl’ with a captivating portrayal in which the audience hangs on every word as we see the melancholy of her character come through.

I also want to highlight the design by Isabella Byrd, the play takes place in a space which resembles a television studio and the lighting design especially elevates the performance within the play with a particularly effective use of a ring light to show the development in Gross’ character.