Let me entertain you….and that’s exactly what Jewish New Zealand comedienne, Deb Filler does in her vastly enjoyable autobiographical one woman show ‘Filler Up!’ at the Ensemble theatre.
Filler was a wonderfully warm and relaxed performer. Her show was held together with some strong themes; her Jewish upbringing and ongoing battles with a demanding mother, her passion for food and struggle with weight problems, her love of traveling, and her love of performing and bringing to life different characters she has met. The current show alone has performed seasons in London, Edinburgh, Toronto, New Zealand and Berlin. Filler only performed in Berlin recently after letting go of a long time reluctance to visit Germany after the experiences of Nazism.
Filler’s father Max was a Holocaust survivor, and a successful baker in his hometown, and the smell of bread and her love of food have been abiding passions. Her father made a sweet bread called challah, eaten mainly on the Jewish Sabbath, which was popular with locals. During the play Filler made a loaf of challah that she left at the front of the stage at the end of the show for audience members to savor as they left the theatre.
A product of her love of food is that Filler has always had a weight problem. The show sees her tell plenty of anecdotes, in a lightly mocking style, about her experiences trying to overcome her weight problems from going to Weight watchers, fat farms and trying numerous fad diets. It was pretty clear that none of the programs had worked too well as Filler is still a very healthily built lady!
‘Filler Up’ went for a breezy 90 minutes without interval. Eda Holmes directed the show that was written by the performer along with Lowry Marshall, and the stage was well lit by Tim Mascall. Filler performed with a number of props- a table where she made the challah, a large fridge, a microwave, and a guitar. A highlight of the evening was when she picked up the guitar, and played a traditional religious song.