★★★★★ Runtime: 70 minutes (no intermission) Availability: Occasionally re-released in cinemas via NT Live; available for streaming on platforms like Amazon Prime (as of 2025, check regional availability) and for digital rental/purchase. “I want to tell you a love story. It’s about a girl who lost her best friend, and she just wanted to be loved. And she tried everything. And then she stopped.” — Fleabag
More importantly, the NT Live recording ensured that a generation of theatre-goers who could not afford West End tickets or travel to London could witness Waller-Bridge’s original performance. It democratized access to a piece of theatrical history. The television series is a masterpiece of adaptation, expanding the world and deepening the characters. But the stage Fleabag is the primal scream from which the show was born. It is leaner, meaner, and more claustrophobic. Without the Hot Priest, without the guinea pig café’s charming aesthetic, without Olivia Colman’s scene-stealing stepmother, we are left alone in a room with a woman who is falling apart. fleabag -nt live-
And that is exactly where Waller-Bridge wants us. And she tried everything