Lucie Barât – ‘the sister’, ‘the accessory’, ‘a walking AAA pass’ – as she jokingly calls herself. Yes, she’s the sister of The Libertines rockstar Carl Barât, but in STANDING IN THE SHADOWS OF GIANTS we finally meet her – raw, unfiltered and ready to tell a story that she explains has stayed in the shadows for far too long.

We follow Lucie through her early days at drama school, full of all the clichés and struggles of young thespians. At the end of her training, she proudly graduates on a glitzy West End stage but then finds herself signing onto the dole the very next day. Carl is by her side throughout, but as The Libertines’ success explodes, she watches her brother and best friend drift further away even while she’s living alongside him at the centre of the chaos, gigs and the endless afterparties.

As a young actor out in the world, Lucie faces the brutal misogyny of the industry during the early noughties. Producers and casting directors leer, with one who she refers to as Mr X pressuring her to lose weight while in a devastatingly powerful scene, lunging at her in the back of a taxi. Minutes later, she’s back home with Carl and bandmate Pete (Doherty), who excitedly play her an early version of ‘Don’t Look Back Into The Sun’. She smiles through her tears with pride and trauma washing over her with overwhelming force all at once – here she depicts the very world she’s inhabited with such impact that I wanted to run onstage and hug her. As Lucie reminds us, men like Mr X were out to sleep with young women and live vicariously through young men – a setup that found her and Carl on either side of the same coin. While this moment is synonymous with the ‘Indie Sleaze’ era in the spotlight, we know this is all still depressingly relevant and relatable. 

We watch her battle addiction, fight her way through recovery and channel years of rage, hurt and self-doubt into lyrics and music. As her mind clears, so too does her understanding of her own sexuality, which she finds space to explore with honesty, power and assertion. What makes STANDING IN THE SHADOWS OF GIANTS so special is that while it’s set amongst the backdrop of The Libertines’ rise to fame (no doubt fans of the band will naturally be intrigued by this element), Lucie is the headline act here – this is her story and it is one that we need to hear. 

Tender, unflinching and unique, this is one of my Fringe must see shows! It runs at the Traverse Theatre until 24th Aug (times vary). Tickets available here.

Photo by Beth Chalmers