‘Fleabag’ Theater Review: Phoebe Waller-Bridge Creates a Millennial Update on Bridget Jones and Carrie Bradshaw

The British actress-writer’s frank and hilarious one-woman show was the basis for a six-part Amazon Prime series

fleabag phoebe waller-bridge
Photo: Joan Marcus

There’s a relatively short list of stage plays that have been successfully adapted into TV series: Neil Simon’s “The Odd Couple,” of course, as well as Christine Houston’s “227,” Tracy Letts’ “Superior Donuts” (canceled last year by CBS) and most of Tyler Perry’s cable comedies. But that distinguished list now includes Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s 2013 one-woman dramedy “Fleabag,” which the creator and star is giving a sensational and spirited revival at Off Broadway’s Soho Playhouse following a sold-out run in London.

The stage version suggests a cunning prototype for the brilliant 2016 BBC TV series — whose six half-hour episodes offer a delicious one-night binge on Amazon Prime, by the way — while still standing on its own as a standalone showcase for Waller-Bridge.

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