Hannah Platt debuted at the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe at the Pleasance Courtyard to critical acclaim with her show ‘Defence Mechanism’. She was nominated for four awards including NextUp’s Biggest Award in Comedy and the Comedian’s Choice Awards Best Debut. Platt now brings the show to London’s Soho Theatre for three nights from Thursday 20th – Saturday 22nd March. Hannah is a refreshingly honest and distinctive northern voice with an unflinching outlook on the world - and, in this show, how the world looks back at her.
Platt says: “Soho theatre has always been a big career goal of mine and I’m so excited to bring my debut show there for three nights. I love the show so much and can’t wait to perform it in a dream venue.”
In ‘Defence Mechanism’, Hannah discusses her recent diagnosis of body dysmorphia - how this shapes her interaction with the world, how media representation is skewed in favour of ‘models who don’t know they’re gorgeous’, and how therapy techniques and positive affirmations don’t always work against scally teenagers taking her picture on the train - or is everyone else gaslighting her? Are these the only people telling her the truth?? What begins as her villain origin story (or it would be, had it not happened so recently) sees Hannah poking fun at self help, the commercialisation of mindfulness, and how even her scouse mum can get on board if it rhymes and fits on a fridge magnet. Raised in a working class family full of blokey blokes, Hannah always struggled to fit in with her family being the ‘weird kid’ - but after a revelation about her deceased father, she has to admit (under duress) maybe everyone deep down can feel like the ‘weird kid’ sometimes.
The show aims to unpick the defence mechanisms we all accrue through bad experiences - what makes us keep people at arm’s length? What is so uncomfortable about being sincere and vulnerable? And are you really a people pleaser if no one is pleased with you? ‘Defence Mechanism’ is a hilarious look at the unfiltered side of mental health honed in comedy clubs up and down the country - dark subjects made relatable for a wider audience, and told from a striking point of view.
Hannah is a stand-up comedian, writer and finalist of the BBC New Comedian of the Year Award. Merseyside-via-Manchester’s finest misanthrope has already been making her mark as a comic. In 2024 ‘Defence Mechanism’ was nominated for Best Debut Show at the Leicester Comedy Festival, she wrote and starred in her own short for BBC 3 and writes for multiple panel shows on BBC Radio 4. Hannah has also performed at festivals including Latitude, Download and Green Man, and supported household names such as Kiri Pritchard-McClean, Fern Brady and Lou Sanders on their UK tours.
HANNAH PLATT: ‘DEFENCE MECHANISM’ SOHO THEATRE Thursday 20th – Saturday 22nd March @ 8.45pm
Buy tickets here.
PHOTO CREDIT - NICOLA GRIMSHAW-MITCHELL
Watch Hannah Platt below
