Let’s Unpack That at The Wardrobe Theatre Review
Written by Charlotte for Theatre & Tonic.
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review
A short walk from Bristol Temple Meads, you’ll find a tiny fringe theatre called The Wardrobe. Part bar and part 100-seat theatre, the intimate performance space was the perfect setting for Let’s Unpack That, a new solo multimedia show by Tiffany Rhodes (supported at the sidelines by Charlotte McEvoy).
Set with just a PowerPoint presentation and a mix of props and furniture that screamed 2000s nostalgia (we’re talking a pink inflatable armchair, a CD player, and a poster of Evanescence), the one-hour performance dove into the 2007 diary of 11-year-old Tiff as she dealt with a plethora of issues many of us face as an angsty pre-teen.
The audience was treated to a jam-packed presentation of dramatic diary readings and Tiffany’s raw commentary that ranges from comedic to deeply emotional, without ever losing its high energy. Topics covered included noughties nostalgia and the road to becoming an 11-year-old goth (which meant absolutely not liking emo band My Chemical Romance despite writing non-stop about Gerard Way in her diary), but also more harrowing topics like misogyny, eating disorders stemming from being the “weird, fat kid” at school, and the stress of being queer and neurodivergent in a world that doesn’t fully understand either.
Ultimately, it all came together into a piece that reminded us – the children of the late ‘90s and 2000s – that we were not alone. That navigating impossible body standards, the boxes we felt we had to fit ourselves into, and the joy of finding our people in the world of MySpace, were universal. And that our love of sexy vampires, black eyeliner pencils, and cult classics like The Mighty Boosh made us who we are today.
For updates and future performances, you can follow Tiffany Rhodes on Instagram and TikTok.
Let’s Unpack That played at the Wardrobe Theatre in July 2025.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
