Review of Katie Arnstein’s Sexy Lamp at Clapham Omnibus

Katie Arnstein’s award-winning production Sexy Lamp is back, this time for a short run at the Omnibus Theatre in Clapham. (She then heads to Nottingham Playhouse’s studio then The Edinburgh Festival at The Pleasance. Personally, I feel that it should do a detour, Katie’s one-woman show should be performed at every secondary school in the UK as well as every performance academy, and stage school!

This is not just a piece of theatre, this is a personal story highlighting the Universal Truth that women are viewed through a lens that believes actors and prostitutes are cut from the same cloth.

Unlike the name suggests, Sexy Lamp is not a piece of theatre full of erotic scenes fetishizing soft furnishings. The piece is instead a brief, yet deep dive into the objectification and sexualisation of women, an important piece of theatre that highlights the #Metoo, 4%, and Times Up crisis that the entertainment industry is currently facing.

It is said that if you are going to write, then you should write what you know and Katie has definitely done this with Sexy Lamp. This show really does shine a spotlight on everything that is wrong with the training and life of an actress, sorry actor! The juxtaposition of her aspirations to become a jobbing actor in London set against the backdrop of Hollywood glamour, Dorothy Gale and the Yellow Brick Road are compelling, and the revelation that Katie is as brave as she is talented does not go unnoticed.

Sexy Lamp is didactic, powerful, provocative and emotional, it’s not sexy and it’s not about lamps – but then things are very rarely what they seem and Katie has a knack for creating enjoyable and entertaining theatre that offers a plausible cause to action for each audience member. Do go and support this talented young lady. Oh, and did I mention there are songs, and sweets!

Review by Faye Stockley

“So I figured if McDonald’s can call itself a restaurant, I can call myself an actor.”
Ever since Katie was cast as the lead in her primary school Christmas show, Santa’s Snow Mobile, she believed there
was a place for her in show business. Since then named, speaking and fully clothed roles have been hard to come
by…
Sexy Lamp, Winner of Show of the Week at VAULT Festival 2019, brilliantly combines comedy, original songs and
storytelling to shed a bright light on how ridiculous the industry can be and why Katie is refusing to stay in the dark. From the writer and performer of Bicycles and Fish, Winner of Show of the Week at VAULT Festival 2018.

Written by: Katie Arnstein
Director: Ellen Havard
Sound Designer: Andrew Hollingworth
Photography: Simon Jefferis
Press: Joseph Cullen
Written and Performed by Katie Arnstein

Listings Information
Sexy Lamp
Omnibus Theatre, Clapham
May 9th – 11th at 7:30pm
https://www.omnibus-clapham.org/