I have to admit, the thought of sitting through another solo show sometimes makes me reach for the remote. Yet there I was last year, utterly won over by Laura Benanti's Nobody Cares, and now the American star is returning to Underbelly Boulevard Soho for a proper two-week run. Something about watching a single performer hold the room feels refreshingly old-school in our endlessly scrolling world.
Benanti, a Tony Award winner known for her Broadway pedigree, created and stars in this 65-minute piece that mixes candid storytelling with songs she co-wrote with Todd Almond. Directed by Annie Tippe, it grew out of an Audible Original and earned praise including a New York Times Critic's Pick. The material draws on her own experiences of motherhood, the exhausting habit of people-pleasing, and the quiet indignities of aging, delivered with the sort of wit that lands because it feels lived-in rather than lecture-y.
The show kicks off on 14 July and runs through to 26 July at the Soho venue on Walker's Court. Performances pop up across those dates at varying times, some evenings at 7pm, others with matinees at 3pm or 5pm, including the occasional double-header. Tickets start from just £16.50 including the booking fee, aimed at audiences 14 and over, with limited meet-and-greet options on weekdays. It's the kind of accessible pricing that reminds you live performance doesn't have to be a luxury reserved for the expense-account crowd.
A welcome return to the stage
After selling out at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2025, enjoying packed Off-Broadway runs and earlier London dates last year, this extended stay at Underbelly Boulevard Soho feels like the market speaking. Audiences keep showing up because there's something irreplaceable about sharing a room with a skilled performer who has honed her craft through years on the boards. In an age when digital fragments compete for every spare minute of attention, the simple act of one woman commanding the stage for an hour and five minutes carries a certain dignity.
The production, presented by rigor + ruckus, Jenny Gersten and Ashley Melone & Nick Mills in association with LD Entertainment, Avadon Broadway LLC, Creative Partners Productions, Steve & Cindy Chao, Jessica Goldman Foung and Susan Goulet, slots neatly into the summer programme alongside other offerings at the venue. It's entrepreneurial spirit at work: artists and producers betting that people still crave the real thing.
I remember dragging myself to one of those earlier London performances, half expecting the usual celebrity vanity project. Instead I left oddly moved, laughing at the absurdities of trying to be everything to everyone while quietly reckoning with who you become when the spotlight dims. Benanti doesn't preach or posture. She simply shows up, does the work, and trusts the audience to meet her there. In that sense the show quietly celebrates what theatre has always done best: forging connections between one honest voice and a roomful of strangers.
