Review: Screaming, Crying, Throwing Up, Begging to be Loved (Yikes) (Bread & Roses Theatre)

Screaming, Crying, Throwing Up, Begging to be Loved (Yikes) was written and performed by Alex Osborne and co-directed by Blake Stratso and Madisyn Mugavero.

The play begins with our narrator entering her bedroom, after leaving an unseen character in her living room while she sorts out the mess she's left the room in earlier. Previously discarded clothes were picked up and thrown behind a curtain in haste. This instantly brought back memories of Sarah and Karl in Love Actually when they go back to Sarah’s flat after the Christmas party and her room isn’t ready for action…  and the play continued along the trajectory of that scene, as you spend the whole hour of the performance willing the main character to stop being distracted and turn her attention back to the love interest who’s patiently waiting for some attention. This deliberate undercurrent of tension adds to the emotional impact of the show.

The play is a one woman show which comes from the point of view of our character thinking aloud about what has brought her to this moment. Using a mixture of monologue, physical humour, and very clever use of props – for example both a duvet cover and (another time) a jacket to evoke the impression of another person being present, we hear about the character’s deep love – obsession some may say – with rom coms, using examples of scenes from many of them, some of which I’d heard of, others I had not, but this didn’t really effect the enjoyment of the performance.

There was a lot of laughter and audience appreciation of the character, as she described how the scenes in rom coms have impacted on her view of the world. But then this changed as the narrative moved into a discussion of what it’s like if you’re overweight and struggling with body image, with focus on how the media represents, and how other people react to, individuals who are considered to be overweight.  This part of the show brought an almost tangible emotional response as the audience was, for the first time, completely silent.  Likewise, a little later when there was talk about someone caring for their partner as they died of AIDS. These emotion-evoking moments contrasted with the humour well. They also left the audience with something to think more about once the show had finished.

The set had just enough to keep you interested, and minimal props that were used as part of the show very effectively.  Books that start out scattered on the floor were part of our character’s backstory, and a lamp was used as a stand in for a person as a scene was described.  A laptop enabled some relevant sound clips to be used, until the laptop was flicked shut thus turning off the media. The sound effects (designed by Wesley Ruthven) were used sparingly but added impact to what was being discussed.  Lighting (Jamil Marland) was also used effectively, changing between when the discussion was about a scene in a rom com or our protagonist simply tidying up her room.

If there is one thing I would suggest, it would be a rethink of the title. I was invited to review, and I like to keep an open mind about what I’m reviewing and expand my horizons a bit, but if I had been flicking through the Lambeth Fringe guide for a show to see and spotted this title would I have chosen to see this show… probably not.  That would have been a shame as it was a solid hour of entertainment which provided a lot of laughs, and provoked some deeper thoughts, from a very talented writer/performer.

⭐⭐⭐1/2

Screaming, Crying, Throwing Up, Begging to be Loved (Yikes) was performed at The Bread and Roses Theatre on 25^th October 2025, as part of Lambeth Fringe.

If you would like to see more of my curtain call photographs from this and other shows, please visit my Instagram.

I was gifted a ticket for this show in exchange for an honest review.