#DearDiary is a one-woman theatre performance by Andi Snelling, who acts out segments of her life that she has written in her diary over the years. Andi’s performance is varied throughout, ranging from loud and jumpy one minute to calm and quiet the next. These mood swings give the effect of a rapid rollercoaster and the show feels like one too.

Andi’s pacing throughout different portions of her life is questionable. She glosses over parts of the story and, in some cases, leaves it all to the imagination. This is especially prevalent in the final scenes when the audience is taken down a spiral of hurried emotions, then abruptly told goodnight and thanks for coming. With all the diary material she claims to have, I was left wanting more. Her family members are mentioned once or twice with no real background or justification and while the audience is told what is happening, they’re rarely shown why. Whether this was an intentional artistic choice remains unclear.

The stage is set-up with Andi surrounded by old dusty suitcases and boxes, implying that her story carries a lot of weight and baggage. Andi enters wearing a dress of multiple bright colours, which is a contrast to the dark browns of the suitcases, and eventually the dark gloominess of her acting and stories. Time and location of the story is shown to progress through little cues in her suitcases and on a model globe, which was a clever use of the props. Andi also uses sound effects and voice-overs to progress the story, as well as the occasional original musical number. These interactions are clever, comical, and sometimes M-rated.

Mid-way through the show Andi brings out her ‘Ask Diary’ segment, whereby she reads out a question an audience member has asked before the show and answers it through interpreting a random sentence from her diary. While this segment is a funny bit of improvised comedy and a great exercise of audience interaction, it served little purpose in forwarding the narrative, and this time could have been better spent on the parts of the story that were rushed or glossed over.

#DearDiary deserves most of it’s positive reviews but elements of the story, mainly the pacing, held me back from enjoying it fully. Nonetheless, Andi’s performance is funny and engaging, making this a solo-show worth seeing.