Theater

Phoebe Waller-Bridge's one-woman show version of Fleabag is headed to movie theaters

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Published on August 28, 2019 07:12PM EDT

Phoebe Waller-Bridge takes the stage in her solo show Fleabag.(© Joan Marcus) — Photo: © Joan Marcus 2019

You might want to kneel for this news.

Fleabag, which began as a one-woman play and then became a hit Emmy-nominated TV series, is headed to the big screen. National Theatre Live, which regularly live broadcasts note-worthy productions from the London stage (and occasionally from Broadway), is bringing the original play to movie theaters.

After the success of Fleabag as a TV show, star and writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge has been doing encore performances of the one-woman show that started it all in New York City and London. The shows have been sold-out for months, but now audiences will have the chance to catch the acclaimed stage production another way. On Sept. 12 (and various encore screenings following that), audiences can see Fleabag as performed by Waller-Bridge from London’s Wyndham’s Theatre.

Hewing closely to the plot of the first season of the TV series (on Amazon in the U.S.), Fleabag follows a young woman struggling to hold it together as she wrestles with grief and guilt in the wake of her best friend’s accidental death. Waller-Bridge delves into a woman coming apart at the seams, who might seem oversexed, emotionally unfiltered, and self-obsessed to some. Struggling to keep her guinea pig cafe open and butting up against the strain of family and friendships, Fleabag brings audiences into her deliciously messy life with plenty of bawdy humor, winking asides, and gut-wrenching truths.

Waller-Bridge has earned three Emmy nominations for season 2 of Fleabag, which she has pledged will be its last. Initially, she never intended to stretch beyond one season, simply sketching her acclaimed solo play, which began its meteoric rise at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2013, into a full season of television.

Her return to the stage has now brought her full circle, after watching the show’s popularity explode and translate into a slate of sold-out runs in New York and London. She will play her final performance as Fleabag Sept. 14 in London, and Waller-Bridge has said that this will be her last hurrah in the role. Though there is a forthcoming book which will feature the scripts from seasons 1 and 2, as well as an afterword from Waller-Bridge.

To find a showing near you and purchase tickets, visit the National Theatre Live website.

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