Combining regency romance with social media brain-rot, Clementine is heading to Manchester.
Written and performed by Rosalie Minnitt, the comedy show follows Clementine, Lady upon Chessington world of adventures, a 27-year-old spinster seeking a husband.
We spoke to Minnitt about the show, which has sold out the Edinburgh Fringe and garnered rave reviews.
Clementine premiered just ahead of the wave of the ‘Brat Summer’ trend that came to define 2024, and Minnitt consciously taps the vein of culture in adapting the jokes.
She said: “Every time I do it I will put new stuff in.
“There have definitely been jokes that used to work but don’t anymore
“It has to keep on growing as you do.”
Clementine is alone for the majority of the performance, but her sisters number in the dozens.
Represented onstage by many Sylvanian Families figurines, they were rescued after threat of eviction by Minnitt’s mother.
One of the sisters is named after an old lunchbox favourite.
“I loved Babybel when I was little, I loved the idea of a cheese you can carry around” said Minnitt, “as a child I thought ‘this is amazing, why aren’t people talking about this?’
“So it’s an inside joke for my sister, because she was always calling me Babybel.”
She talked about the freedom in inhabiting this character.
“What that character has allowed me to do is write with the precision of stand-up and getting jokes really finely tuned through gigs, which is not always easy as a character act.”
Minnitt is excited to see how this posh, southern character will be received in northern regions.
Her father is from Manchester, but her mother’s family are from Belgium. Minnitt loves the idea of bringing the show there, having grown up in Holland, if only to see the confused local reaction.
Caught between two cultures, she said she sometimes feels she has “access to a heritage but not really feeling like a part of it”.
Does she see Clementine going on further adventures?
Minnitt said: “The way I’ve done the first show lends itself to a stupid sequel.
“I want her to go to the city and for there be a War and Peace-esque energy to it.”
Minnitt’s obsession with the French Revolution may well feed into this, and she is also working to adapt Clementine for screen, possibly in a modern setting.
In speaking to her, one word came up regularly when describing the show: joyous.
“Ultimately I want the show to be joyous and exciting” Minnitt said.
“It’s kind, it’s friendly, it’s funny, it’s punching up.”
Rosalie Minnitt is performing Clementine at Fairfield Social Club in Manchester on Saturday 15 March 2025. Tickets are available here.
Images Courtesy of Textual Healing PR
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