Trading Faces

Everyman Palace Theatre, Cork

This comedy, starring Twink as Eve, is about a middle-aged disappointed housewife who succumbs to cosmetic surgery. An avid reader of celebrity stories in magazines, she is obsessed with how various stars look and likes nothing better than to take them down with her scathing comments. But, while Eve is quick to point out who has had ‘work’ done, she sees no irony in the fact that she too is going under the scalpel.

The first act is set in a cosmetic surgeon’s consulting room where a nurse satisfies herself that Eve has tried other options to look better and lose weight. The two characters spar off each other. But for the most part, this poorly written play is a vehicle for Twink to indulge in tired old jokes and clichés about the menopause, gynaecologists, and her character’s less than exciting sex life as well as name-checking celebrities.