REVIEW: I AM JOHNNY, Tessa Parr, EdFringe 2026 ★★★★

Absurd, slightly terrifying at times, yet eventually completely moving, I AM JOHNNY is an experimental and formally exciting piece that interrogates the way men view their bodies and, as a result, women’s bodies. In 2026, when conversations about how we perform our gender are arguably more frequent than ever, writer and performer Tessa Parr changes the game with how she gives her character Johnny a platform to speak his raw, unrestrained and unembellished truth.

Structured as a slam poetry performance, frequently interrupted by sudden bursts of beatboxing and surreal attempts at connection with the audience, I AM JOHNNY begins with Johnny’s confession that he is unable to cry. But he has been journalling, learning about “safe spaces” and “trigger warnings”, and we are here to witness what is clearly a momentous turning point in his ability to express his feelings. It doesn’t always seem like it (there are many detours along to way, to Tommy Hilfiger bed linen and so many mint imperials…) but Johnny is really trying. Through his story, Parr is able to create an emotive and political exploration of masculinity, ego and power.

Parr is unsettling yet entirely captivating as Johnny, with such attention to detail in inhabiting his posture, his voice, his mannerisms. I AM JOHNNY becomes a fascinating and bemusing experience with Johnny himself, as Parr handles extensive audience interaction with total control, never once breaking character or allowing the audience’s initial uneasiness to limit the absurdity of Johnny’s character. The awkwardness is part of the act – we are right there, up close and personal, with Johnny as he unpacks his experiences and perception of himself – and Parr brilliantly maintains this unnerving performance throughout.

In the brief moments of multi-roling, where Parr takes on the voice of some of Johnny’s family and friends, it becomes clear just how talented and versatile Parr is as a performer: subtle, yet totally believable, Parr uses her voice and almost unnoticeable changes in body language to draw us in to these conversations that Johnny is remembering. These are the most effective scenes in highlighting the wider themes of I AM JOHNNY too, as we suddenly get to see Johnny’s outside world creeping in and the cracks in his onstage persona start to show, which he handles with a pensive and guarded response, only furthering our sympathy and understanding of him.

His interaction with his mother is perhaps the most significant of these. Suddenly Johnny’s comic awkwardness switches to an intensity that provides an unfiltered and concerned perspective on the male gaze, ownership of female body and, most importantly, the mother and son relationship and the lack of power either party really can take hold of. Once this moment of tension was established, I felt excited for a build to a bigger climax, to have really earned something from the awkwardness and uncomfortableness of the show so far, but this didn’t come. Perhaps this is the point? The payoff is limited for both Johnny and ourselves. But it would have created greater poignancy, I think, to build earlier on and then spend longer in this fraught territory.

Overall, this is an exciting and affecting piece of theatre which engages with hot topics of masculinity, body image and mental health in a fresh and insightful way, without ever taking itself too seriously. Its use of drag creates a thought-provoking form for Parr to play around with, to push the boundaries of, the performance of gender and THIS IS JOHNNY becomes quite genius in its inspection of how masculinity and class intersect.

Recommended Drink: A Mojito. Zesty, sometimes sweet, sometimes tart, and I think Johnny would approve of the mint.

You can watch I am Johnny at Summerhall until from 6-31 August (not 17, 24) at 18:15 (1 hour). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.