The Silent Treatment ★★★★★

Solo shows often hinge on an audience’s connection with the performer in question. Fortunately, Young is an effervescent, engaging presence, as adept at delivering a caustic line as she is at belting out a show tune. Her quick wit, when given the opportunity to adlib, is often employed to winning effect here.

Several approaches, including soliloquies, song, mime and props, are used to drive forward the show’s narrative. So, it’s not entirely unexpected that some occasionally work better than others. Scenes using glove puppets, for example, are amusing but possibly overplayed. 

The overall hit rate is high, however. A deeply traumatic episode from Young’s youth is recalled in a way that could have been cloying in clumsier hands. But, here, the effect is heart breaking. And when she talks frankly about the, sometimes deliberate, lack of care often afforded to performers, it’s hard not to feel chilled by the impact of her words. 

An alluring and, at times, provocative experience, The Silent Treatment will doubtlessly add to the list of plaudits Young has already enjoyed.