Single Use Review

Single Use Review

30th Jul – 25th Aug 2025

In an intimate space at the Pleasance Courtyard, the audience file in, many of them enjoying a drink from a plastic cup, purchased from the pop-up bar opposite.  

Single Use is a raw, thought-provoking one-person show that has its roots deeply embedded in contemporary social issues. Premiering at this year’s Edinburgh Festival, it takes the audience on a journey through the complexities of modern life, where convenience, technology, and human connections all seem to be tangled up in a delicate web of consumption.

“This is a message which needs to be heard again, and again, and again”

The play follows Ella, who flits between the sub plots of an unhappy home-life and uninspiring career, working in a failing bar.  When Ella starts receiving messages on her phone telling her to stop dumping rubbish in Malaysia, she starts to question the huge piles of single use plastic she goes through every night with her comforting take away habit. 

There are some hard hitting messages in the play with jarring lines “when the sea levels rise the shallowest people will drown first” which genuinely do make us stop and question our own ‘single use’ habits.  

What stands out most about Single Use is its ability to balance humour with its often uncomfortable message. The script is sharp and witty, with plenty of moments that will make you laugh out loud. “Have you ever tried relaxing, it’s actually very stressful”.   There are, at times, tones of Alan Bennet in the story-telling and the descriptions of the people in Ella’s life, and a sadness as she reflects on what is really happening in the world.  

The set consists of a large dustbin and small step ladder but grows with piles of crumpled paper, plastic bottles, food containers and other single use items until Ella is surrounded by rubbish, a clever visual reminder of what is happening around us as we choose convenience over conscience. 

Whilst this production doesn’t deliver on all fronts, Verity Mullen must be applauded for writing and delivering such an important piece of theatre. This is a message which needs to be heard again, and again, and again.  I left the space wondering how many drinks I’d consumed in plastic cups whilst at the fringe?  I was there with my reusable metal water flask, but surely a reusable pint glass would be just as easy to carry? 

Stephen Cambridge

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