Marjolein Robertson @ Monkey Barrel at the Hive

Marjolein Robertson’s new Fringe hour O is a heady mix of the surrealist, the ridiculous and the sentimental: a double-barrelled didactic of esoterica and life-threatening reproductive health. 

If that opening gambit sounds like a lot, then that would be apt. Robertson’s background and the leanings of her material favour the bucolic isolation of her Shetland upbringing and indulge a liminal, edgy pivot to her punchlines: deadly childhood games, learning the circle of life the farmyard way, even the suggestion of cannibalism.

These opening gags, as well as the framing of the show that she posits, simply preface the show’s real thrust: a horrifying and intangible uterine condition and the travails of having to identify, deal with and survive it. In true Robertson fashion, her harrowing story runs parallel with a sorcerous auxiliary; a Shetland folktale. It’s an impressive balance, and Robertson keeps the laughs coming.

What makes O stand tall is the intertwining of emotion, commentary and humour. Robertson’s exploration of her illness and the NHS is expert in amalgamating these, as whoops of recognition regarding contraception methods – and the way in which female reproductive health is often regarded – play brilliantly into a gnarly twist on a nursery rhyme.

Robertson’s madcap sensibility is still on fine display despite this: every moment featuring her mother is hilarious, and there is a passing reference to a disgraced former children’s TV presenter (a dead one) that comes out of nowhere to a huge audience reaction. The show’s introduction doesn’t quite land, but recompense is more than paid in the fever dream finale, as well as all of the commitment that these bookends take to pay off.

Robertson is in incredibly tight form and while some ambitions don’t quite deliver, O feels vital and alchemical. It's a show that marks a leap forward in Robertson’s sensibility in composition, and her balance of the emotional and hilarious reflect a growing experience and zeal.

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Marjolein Robertson: O, Monkey Barrel @ The Hive (Hive 1), run ended