Leyla Aycan takes to the Prague Fringe her solo play Gobstopper, where she also performs as the protagonist. The one-woman play tells the story of a young lady whose life is a catalogue of unavoidable bad decisions and challenges beyond her control.

The old man sitting behind on the bus is seriously irritating her and after shouting at him to “shut up” she quickly discovers he is choking on a gobstopper and the result could have been fatal. The crowd gather around to help him and she’s glared at by the crowd and leaves the bus.

How was she supposed to know he was choking? You do get some odd characters travelling on public transport sometimes.

Everywhere she turns and looks she feels the eyes upon her and is familiar with the rumours and stories that have been created about her, many of which are unjustified. Stuck in a rut she isn’t sure who to turn to or what to do to switch direction.

Let down by every adult in her life or wider circle of friends she is left carrying the blame for things that we begin to realise are beyond her control and the adults should have acted responsibly.

You can see that the audience begins to warm to Aycan‘s character once the truth behind her situation is explained in a roundabout way. She knows that she isn’t a bad person and declares to members of the audience why she isn’t. However, that’s up to the audience to decide for themselves whether she is or not.

For more information about Gobstopper at The Prague Fringe please use the link below. Hopefully, this play will have a future life on another Fringe theatre stage.

Five Stars.

https://www.praguefringe.com/

https://skelftheatreco.com/

Gobstopper by Leyla Aycan is a punch-in-the-face tale of self-discovery, accountability, and the relentless quest for redemption. This dark comedy reveals how our labels can both shape”and shatter”who we are.