Holly Spillar: HOLE
created and performed by Holly Spillar
dramaturgy by Ben Francombe
Soho Theatre, London – 2 and 3 April 2024
next scheduled performance: Colchester Arts Centre – 24 April 2024
It took me a couple of minutes to warm to this HOLE but I’m very glad I stuck with it. That might seem a bizarre way to start a review but then this is a bizarre show, albeit an unexpected, sometimes deeply uncomfortable, treat.
Holly Spillar, wafting in looking like a cross between the door hostess at an eccentric but trendy bistro and Sarah Brightman in her Hot Gossip days, has created a frequently witty, often outrageous and occasional very poignant hour long cabaret, pitched somewhere between stand-up and performance art, inspired by her own vaginismus. For those unaware, vaginismus is a condition whereby the vaginal muscles tighten uncontrollably whenever penetration is imminent, and can be a source of pain and embarrassment to the women suffering from it.
If Spillar wasn’t so likeable and talented, one would still have to applaud her bravery and chutzpah for addressing the condition in this format, and exploding some of the myths surrounding it. By empowering herself, she’s also empowering others, and that’s pretty special.
You wouldn’t necessarily assume that vaginismus could be the basis for a piece of musical entertainment, let alone a rambunctious crowd pleaser. But then you won’t have seen the chaotic but magnetic Spillar, who’s at once ethereal and goofy, with a raw soprano voice that isn’t always easy on the ear but astonishes with its range. She also makes ingenious use of a loop pedal which effectively means that she is her own backing singer(s) and accompanist, except when she’s getting the audience to join in with a jolly singalong about the NHS.
Her comedy instincts are unerring, as she plays everything from a therapist with more than a whiff of Björk about her, some insensitive male doctors and numerous friends and advisors ranging from the hopeless to the offensive. Her ability to morph into different people with just a dip in her voice, change of facial expression and alteration in stance is impressive.
Spillar commands her audience by stealth, the scattershot strangeness of her initial moments giving way to authentic hilarity and moments of genuine shock. You’ll laugh a lot but you’ll also probably wince quite a bit. Life-enhancingly weird and unique: well worth catching next time she’s on.
ajhlovestheatre 
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