During it’s run at the Edinburgh Fringe, Three Weeks, gave Growing Up Linda four stars and noted that it’s “debt to celebrity-obsessed daytime television brought the fusion of trashy and glam to its peak.”
From Three Weeks, August, 10, 2008:
* * * *
Linda Carvel, heiress to the Carvel Cake empire, has a few problems with her father and an eating disorder. This unusual and visually stimulating production took us into the bizarre wonderland of her mind where puppets, oversized candies and screaming hot dogs tell the story of her demise. Kitsch, camp and often grotesque, this was childhood fantasy with a cult Rocky Horror edge; kooky voiceovers and a debt to celebrity-obsessed daytime television brought the fusion of trashy and glam to its peak. The puppetry along with innovative filming of moving flip books which were projected onto a huge screen made this a really memorable production that mixed visual art and theatre. Not for kids but first-class escapism for adults.
ThreeWeeks has been discovering and championing great new shows and great new talent at the Edinburgh Festival since 1996.