Type: One Woman Show, Rom-Com-Adjacent
If You Liked: First Dates, Why Am I So Single?, Amber (Old Fitz Theatre)
Being single in your thirties is tough. For a man, it can be hard. For a woman, it can be downright existential.
Poppy is a woman whose heart is on the mend. It’s been broken recently by another man in a brief 5-month fling – apparently he was “the one”. Unfortunately for Poppy, “the one” decided to up and move to Melbourne and decided he couldn’t do “long distance” with her in Sydney. What follows is a rotating haze of boozy parties, one night stands, casualties of dating apps, and the reality of what it’s like to date in Sydney. Spoiler: it’s a hellscape.
Nikita Waldron‘s newest play “is a love letter to anyone who has felt personally victimised by a dating app, stressed out by the Panic Years (aka that ticking biological clock), or who dares to love, even after it fails, time and time again”. After the sucess of Amber, Waldron is back – this time with a one woman production directed by Madeleine Diggins that aims to be as quirky as New Girl and as funny as Bridemaids.
Waldron has a clarity in her voice within her texts which shines in The Last Single Girl in Sydney. Poppy comes off the pages as full bodied, a woman wanting to feel the richness of love and to be loved in return. She’s crass, she’s sexy, and she’s a lot of fun. But there is also a self-absorption to Poppy, she’s not the clean cut hero of the story – even though she’s the one she must learn to truly love.
Diggins direction appears a bit too complicated for the small space of the Erskineville Town House. A chaise lounge hides props behind and beneath, whilst flowers scatter the space, and a large yellow wheelie bin is awkwardly used throughout. Meanwhile, the playing field can sometimes be lost with blocking being used to create movement that feels unrequired.
First night Fringe stumbles aside as a first run of a new text, TLSGIS has strong foundations. I felt the fear Poppy has in the ever drifting years that go by as you spend another lap around the sun single. Waldron is speaking from a seemingly lived experience and there are moments that emit unexpected gutteral laughs.
Once Waldron and Diggins solidify their foundations and find their footing in the rhythms and motions of Poppy’s story, The Last Single Girl in Sydney is sure to recieve a second life.
Now for your own sake, stop swiping and get yourself out there!
See our other reviews from the Sydney Fringe Festival in the link below
Tickets and Practical Info for The Last Single Girl in Sydney at Sydney Fringe Festival 🎟️
Erskineville Town House.
Tuesday 8th September, 7.30pm
Wednesday 9th September, 7.30pm
Thursday 10th September, 7.30pm
Friday 11th September, 7.30pm
Saturday 12th September, 7.30pm (Closing night)
CAST & TEAM
Writer/Performer Nikita Waldron (she/her)
Director Madeleine Diggins (she/her)
Production Designer Bella Saltern (she/her)
Composer / Sound Designer Otto Zagala (they/them)
Producer Jason Jefferies (he/him)
Nikita Waldron (She/Her) – Writer/Performer
Nikita graduated from NIDA with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting in 2017. As an actor, her theatre credits include: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Rules for Living, Lord of the Flies and Mosquitoes for Sydney Theatre Company, The Wolves and An Enemy of the People for Belvoir St Theatre, What the Ocean Said for the Sydney Opera House, Girls in Boys’ Cars for the National Theatre of Parramatta, girlfriend for Belvoir’s 25A, The Wolves at The Old Fitz and Youth and Destination at KXT. On screen, her feature film credits are: The Bystander Trials, Palm Beach and Top End Wedding, and her television credits include: He Had it Coming, Home and Away, The Letdown and Random and Whacky.
As a writer, she won ATYP’s Rebel Wilson Comedy Commission for her play Amber, starring in its critically acclaimed, sold-out premiere season at The Old Fitz in 2025. She has also participated in television writers’ rooms for Lingo, Easy Tiger and Ante Productions and worked as a notetaker for three years for companies that include Warner Bros., Easy Tiger, Goalpost Pictures, Fremantle, Wooden Horse TV, Soapbox Pictures, Runaway Unicorn and Hello Sunshine.
