The Edinburgh fringe is good at bringing forth harrowing personal stories, moving testimonies of overcoming obstacles, surviving illness, abuse and addiction. Safe to say, the list of harrowing subject matter doesn’t usually include growing up as the youngest of five siblings in a comfortable middle-class home. That one of those siblings is Chris Martin of Coldplay might add to the intrigue but little alters the stakes.
Such is the lot of Nicola Wren and, to her credit, even she doesn’t seem to think it is the greatest problem in the world. By her own telling, she appears to have grown up with a loving family, attended a non-abusive boarding school and sailed into drama college. Even a year without work doesn’t seem to have been so bad. That she still craves the attention of her big sister and brothers (and at one time her sister-in-law Gwyneth Paltrow), is unfortunate but hardly devastating. There is no survivors’ charity to sponsor her and no collection buckets at the end.
What there is – and it’s the show’s saving grace – is a considerable amount of charm. Wren is an easy actor to like and she makes you feel her minor-league demon is worth wrestling with. Taking the advice to write what you know, she tells her not-really-showbiz story of childhood pantos and movie bit-parts as a way of coming to terms with herself.
Superstar is not even that funny, although Wren performs with good humour and hits home with a quality X&Y joke. It is her way of stepping out of the shadows, and it makes us happy to know she’s sorting herself out.
• Underbelly Cowgate, Edinburgh, until 25 August.
