ANXIETY... The Musical!?
BATS Theatre, The Dome, 1 Kent Tce, Wellington
15/11/2022 - 19/11/2022
Gryphon Theatre, 22 Ghuznee Street, Wellington
22/02/2025 - 02/03/2025
Production Details
Created and performed by Maria Williams
At its best it’s fine art, at its medium it’s theatrical comedy, and at its worst it’s a hot mess! An energetic show for those who are surviving on anxiety & coffee that they have been told they aren’t allowed.
Join stressed-out millennial Maria Williams for a one-hour rant about her life from birth to now. The two-time winner of NZ International Comedy Festival Newcomer of the year (‘19 – Wellington, ‘21 – Auckland), and current Billy T James Award nominee (RIP Comedy Fest 2022 & RIP Matua Billy).
Due to some personal health challenges, and Maria losing some of her usually high octane energy, she’s bringing in the most energetic person she knows to help: Jake Brown. The show now stars Jacob Brown as Maria Williams and Maria Williams as Maria Williams. Thenewversion?Anxiety…theMusical!?ExtremeJakeover:LongCOVIDEdition.
‘Ultimately, Anxiety…The Musical!? is a delight from start to finish. it works best for a millennial audience who can best relate to a set oozing with naughties references and are more willing to enjoy such a frank but entertaining discussion of mental health, but there is plenty for all audiences to love in Williams’ resoundingly enjoyable show that defies categorisation. – Ethan Sills, NZHerald
BATS Theatre, The Dome
15 – 19 November 2022
7pm
Prices:
Full: $22
Concession: $18
Group 6+: $20
The Difference: $40
BOOK
Maria Williams is a theatre-maker, comedian and improvisor with mental health challenges. She has been involved with multiple theatre companies over the years from Binge Culture to Barbarian to Capital E theatre for Children.
Anxiety The Musical…!? won Best Newcomer AKL 2021 NZICF.
Her and Alice May Connolly’s show Mournmoor Murders won Best Newcomer Wlg 2019 NZICF.
Her first show, Stoge Chollonge 2006, sold out and won a NZ Fringe Award.
She was also part of It’s A Trial which won the Wellington Theatre Award for Most Original Production.
Jacob Brown is a theatremaker, dancer, improvisor, comedian and muse (Maria is writing this so he may disagree). Probably the most spirited and enthusiastic performer in NZ, his solo show Jacob’s Party won multiple awards at NZ Fringe and toured to the second biggest Fringe festival in the world in Perth. He also starred in The Slutcracker, ransom, Second Unit amongst many other wonderful productions.
NZ Fringe 2025
Come join overwhelmed millennial Maria Williams, for storytelling, singing and laughing that will inspire you, and if not inspire it will entertain you, and if it doesn’t entertain you it will fill an hour.
“Usually hilarious, often moving, thoroughly admirable” – Theatreview
“Anxiety… The Musical!? is a delight from start to finish” – NZ Herald
“Clever and also very, very funny” – Theatreview
“A full palette of comedic skills, a cornucopia of gags and full throttle commitment” – Theatreview
Gryphon Theatre
22 February 2025-2 March 2025
5.30pm
https://tickets.fringe.co.nz/event/446:6101/
Comedy , Musical , Theatre ,
60 min (Sat & Sun only)
Usually hilarious, often moving, thoroughly admirable
Review by Tim Stevenson 19th Nov 2022
Welcome to the world of anxiety! Maria Williams will be your guide this evening. This makes sense because it’s her anxiety you’ll be visiting. She knows the territory well – where to find the curious spectacles, the amusing encounters, the touching moments – so you can expect to be well entertained.
What’s that? You’re feeling a little nervous? Plenty of us who like to keep our own anxieties buttoned up and out of sight feel the same. But let me reassure you, you’ll be fine. She’s the one who’s taking all the risk.
Which is to say that there’s an edgy fascination about Anxiety… The Musical!? as a performance; maybe a bit like watching a tightrope walker perform without a safety net. Because, for the duration of the show at least, buttoning up her private life is not creator Maria Williams’ way. She’s more into taking off the lid and emptying the details out over the stage for all to see. Embarrassing? Painful? Vulnerable? Great, here it comes, the more the merrier.
In plain language, Anxiety… The Musical!? is a theatrical comedy show based on Maria Williams’ own experience of living with anxiety (she describes herself as living with mental health challenges). Not wanting to give away too many details, but school days, career choices, counselling and measuring up against old rival Taylor Swift all get an airing. Puberty gets a look in, but all too briefly – “too briefly” because when it does crop up, it’s shriekingly funny.
Regrettably, Williams isn’t up to performing some of the more energetic passages of the show (dancing, costume changes) due to personal health challenges. The good news is that she’s brought in the highly talented Jake Brown to present those parts. He does this with great aplomb and also tact, allowing his own multiple talents full rein without stealing the show. The onstage rapport between Brown and Williams manages to be relaxed, lively and sensitive all at the same time.
Living with anxiety might not immediately seem promising as the raw material of comedy. Williams has the comic eye to craft a show out of her experiences that’s usually hilarious, often moving and, in an odd way, thoroughly admirable. That’s not a term this reviewer has used about a comedy show before, but there definitely is something admirable in Williams’ candour about the stuff of her life; her willingness to play, if not on the edge, then close to it.
Maybe it goes without saying, but let’s say it anyway: Williams might be a tad underpowered at the moment but her timing, delivery and pace remain as on point as ever, to the noisy delight of the sympathetic and highly appreciative audience.
Sam on sound and lighting does a great job.
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