Riki Lindhome's one-woman musical comedy about her fertility journey, Dead Inside, is currently playing at the Soho Theatre in London. The show, which the American comedian and musician describes as potentially uncomfortable, is a witty, bittersweet and beautifully judged hour that chronicles her efforts to become a mother.
Lindhome's show covers topics such as frozen embryos, failed IVF, seven surgeries in one year, untimely relationship breakups, and being classified as an 'undesirable candidate' to adopt a child. The latter is due to her Google presence, which includes smutty and sacrilegious songs from her time as part of the duo Garfunkel and Oates.
The show includes several witty and bittersweet numbers, including a parody of Disney princesses and a song asking 'will you be my bio-dad?'. There are also detours into The Sound of Music and female medical history. A later song compares the surrogate mother Lindhome eventually finds to a 'trash bag', which she uses to highlight the sense that surrogacy may not be the desired outcome but is better than not doing it at all.
Dead Inside also has an awareness-raising dimension, particularly regarding information withheld from Lindhome that might have changed everything. Despite the heavy subject matter, the show is funny, entertaining and emotionally involving, compelling the full engagement of the audience's heart, head and funny bone.
