Writer and Director: Vic Holt
Vic Holt has lived an extraordinary life, across multiple countries, speaking numerous languages, holding several fascinating careers and a number of important relationships. But there is far too much of this full and fascinating life to cover in just 60 minutes in her new show Yamas! performed at Theatro Technis as part of Camden Fringe 2026, leaving the six chapters a little disconnected, an interesting series of dinner party anecdotes and not fully successful as a piece of theatre.
From holidays in Lesbos and the constantly misplacing her lilo to military division in Cyprus during her formative years to working as a doctor, first in an A&E department and later as a psychiatrist, and finally to Holland, her best friend and setting up a permanent home in the UK, Yamas! covers a lot of ground. Holt’s style cuts back and forth in time with sequences not necessarily appearing in chronological order and dipping between topics that receive the same surface treatment regardless of their severity or silliness.
The show is constructed from a series of stories, any one of which could easily deserve an entire show if teased out to its full dramatic potential and an opportunity for Holt to colour in some of the detail with greater characterisation, moments of jeopardy and, most importantly, self-reflection. What else is a personal, biographical monologue for if not to show the audience what a single life means or what the good times and the bad really mean as a collective and ongoing experience?
For example, taking just the first chapter in which Holt spends time on Lesbos over several summers, has a couple of relationships, some random encounters and a lilo race. There is a tendency in all of these segments to tell rather than show but there’s so much potential colour just in this one section that could evolve to include much more detail, expanding on the vibrant, odd and forceful people she meets there, the conversations they have, their personality traits and foibles, each chapter building moments of jeopardy and then drawing some meaning from the experience for the audience, creating a through-line of life lessons that become the spine of the show.
Delivered as a kind of stand-up without punchlines and sometimes as a theatrical monologue with a stage full of props, the next steps for this piece would be to consider what it is Holt wants to say, what should the audience take away as its meaning or overall purpose. Then, go through every line, every observation and throwaway comment to ask, “what does this add?” to that purpose and “how does it advance the story?” There is so much here and clearly so much more to say, so the material just needs some shaping and to think through the linking moments, the connections that take the audience through this life story.
Slightly geared to friends and family in its current iteration, who probably know many of the references and can fill in the detail, to make this theatrical Yamas! just needs to face a bigger audience of strangers.
Runs until 4 August 2026
Camden Fringe 2026 runs until 30 August
