Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag(s): direct address and narrative control from stage to small screen

Authors

Jessica Beaumont, University of Cambridge

Abstract

This essay explores the television comedy Fleabag (BBC 2016-2019) which was adapted from a theatrical monologue and owes its mode of direct address to this dramatic past. The original one-woman show, written by and starring Phoebe Waller-Bridge, was first performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2013, and, like the BBC Three television adaptation that followed in 2016, follows the story of a sexually promiscuous young woman, known to the audience only as ‘Fleabag,’ struggling with the death of her closest friend. The essay is concerned with the application of auteur theory, which becomes relevant to a discussion of the use of direct address, and particularly interesting in the context of the perceived difficulty in resolving auteur theory and feminist content.

Author Biography

Jessica Beaumont authored this essay as part of her undergraduate studies for the degree of BA English Literature at the University of Cambridge.

Recommended Citation

Beaumont, Jessica (2021) "Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag(s): direct address and narrative control from stage to small screen," Journal of International Women's Studies: Vol. 22: Iss. 2, Article 10.
Available at: https://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws/vol22/iss2/10