Silly Cow
Michael Horne
12th-17th September 2016
Written by Ben Elton
Silly Cow is a slick, razor-tongued satire on the viciousness of tabloid journalism with an ingeniously dramatic dénouement. Doris Wallace has everything a tough tabloid columnist could want: a toy boy, a pretty personal assistant, and the prospect of her own television show. She is a newspaper columnist and reviewer with a talent for caustic insults and career assassination.
Being sued by the actress Trudi Hobson, after writing an article which savaged the respected thespian with accusations of small talent and large thighs is a petty annoyance, but Doris puts her in her place by revealing her ample cleavage as she flirts with the judge and spouts populist bravado. She is ready to celebrate her victory in court when things begin to go wrong: television materials are missing, a pal she double crossed wants revenge, her accountant is about to pull a fast one and those she has defamed dish out the kind of humiliation she inflicts on others. Doris is about to discover that even journalists can’t escape reaping what they have sown, and that there’s nothing quite as dramatic as an actress’s revenge.