Jermyn Street Theatre production of 15 HEROINES 2020

THE SUCCESS OF 15 HEROINES SHOWS THAT PRODUCERS SHOULD STILL BE TAKING RISKS
My favourite monologues scrapped the imagined male listener altogether … Canace, who becomes pregnant by her brother, attempts to explain herself in a TV interview.
Kate Maltby, THE STAGE

The best pieces unfurl their stories delicately and semi-opaquely, as is the case with Isley Lynn’s slow-drip revelations of Canace (Eleanor Tomlinson) and her incestuous relationship with her brother.
Rosemary Waugh, THE STAGE

I also loved Eleanor Tomlinson as Canace (writer, Isley Lynn), a young woman who has transgressed all societal norms but who refuses to be apologetic for it. “I know you look at me as an abomination, a disgrace,” she says, but she won’t apologise because it is “not what this story has to be.” There are many different kinds of monsters in 15 Heroines, but they are seldom where or in the form you’d expect to find them.
Lyn Gardner, STAGE DOOR

Tomlinson proves capable of far more than Poldark palpitations in Isley Lynn’s strong script. Taut but natural as Canace (daughter of the god of the winds, by the way), she has a smile that looks increasingly strapped-on as she explains to a scandal-hungry interviewer that she actually loved the brother with whom she went to bed.
Susannah Clapp, THE OBSERVER

Unmissable lockdown theatre … Tomlinson with her delicate nervousness in character, gives one of the most affecting performances for what is in every way a tragedy.
ITHANKYOUTHEATRE

The particular highlight, where the fusion of the contemporary veils itself over revised source material, is with the gradual maddening presence of Eleanor Tomlinson as her appearance on a ‘reality show’ draws Grecian tragedy into a modern, recognisable setting. And while the subject of incest isn’t one to draw debate over here, the parallels of the ravenous information and gossip mongers clambering onto Canace makes Isley Lynn’s the most well-developed of the stories for The Desert.
Dominic Corr, THE REVIEWS HUB

A Good Story by Isley Lynn, is a really interesting one. Set in the form of a chat show or documentary it slowly reveals the story in a very natural way. The performance, by Eleanor Tomlinson, is so natural and compelling, it forces one to lean in and listen and react in a very primal way to the subject matter. And yet, despite going against all moral compasses, I found myself siding with Candace. She is a character so utterly in love that it transcends all logic, performed with such conviction that for a moment I wished I was her.
Disa Andersen, LONDON PUB THEATRES

Canace (played by Eleanor Tomlinson) faces an unheard interviewer on a TV chat show in Isley Lynn's A Good Story, starting with giggles and ending with a shield of steely resignation at the sacrifice her romantic decision caused.
Louise Penn, BROADWAY WORLD

Isley Lynn sensitively tackles a modern taboo in A Good Story, in which Eleanor Tomlinson’s Canace gives an increasingly unsettling TV interview about a relationship in the public eye.
BRITISHTHEATRE.COM

The Desert is best at reinterpreting ancient stories and making them topical for the world in which we live, and therefore the one I would most heartily recommend
Chris Omaweng, LONDONTHEATRE1

There are twists, even for those of us who spent our formative years deep in Atticus the Storyteller’s 100 Greek Myths. Isley Lynn benefits from the relative obscurity of Canace, the subject of A Good Story, but Eleanor Tomlinson (pictured above) still pulls it off marvellously.
Laura De Lisle, THE ARTS DESK

It’s refreshing to get provocative perspectives on some complicated legends. … Isley Lynn has injected enough mystery into the script to create a great jumping off point into a knotty family.
Jo Gudgeon, CULTURE FLY

The reimagining of Dianaria, Canace and Sappho are also the most interesting and all have captivating scripts ... Lynn’s script takes a different approach from the others, adopting a more conversational and thoroughly light-hearted tone at the beginning. The televised interview is an interesting way to explore such a taboo topic, and highlights how gossip and spectacle is at the heart of celebrity culture.
Flora Doble, THE SPY IN THE STALLS

Other stories are more subversive. What would the modern world make of Canace, passionately and incestuously married to her own brother? ... Well, Isley Lynn sends Canace out on the talkshow circuit, where she’s subjected to interrogation and moral opprobrium, but remains defiantly unrepentant. Each tale gleams with invention, and the voices come together in a gloriously clamorous chorus. Thrilling.
Sam Marlowe, THE i PAPER

The digital medium lent itself especially well to A Good Story by Isley Lynn. Set as a TV interview with Canace, the Wind God’s Daughter, our protagonist is interrogated about her incestuous affair with her brother. Eleanor Tomlinson plays the role as unassuming and naïve, yet steadfast and unapologetic in her own beliefs.
Gillian Fisher, AFRIDIZIAK

Eleanor Tomlinson gives a sensitive performance of an honest and brave young woman, talking frankly about their great love, though momentarily cracking at the hostility being shown when behind her friendly smiles she is grieving.
Howard Loxton, BRITISH THEATRE GUIDE

Reinterpreting the women of Greek mythology for today, the theatrical enterprise of 15 Heroines is a major achievement and a highlight of the year, digital or otherwise.
THERE OUGHT TO BE CLOWNS

Photography: Marc Brenner 

Slovenian production of 15 HEROINES 2022