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You may have noticed Amy Matthews as new character DC Rita Oswald on the long-running British TV series EastEnders.
In real life, however, Matthews finds herself living in a different sort of soap opera. The sort where her ex-boyfriends keep getting sober after dating her. The sort where her emotions arrive far too long after events have transpired. Almost like, a toaster.
“I’m a recovering people pleaser. I hope that’s ok,” she quips, adding that her self-diagnosis serves up a ripe recipe for being drawn to people who will drain her energy. Receiving an outside diagnosis of level-one autism might at least help her understand her relationship history a bit better. It certainly explains to her why it looks like she’s wearing pajamas.
And yet in certain lighting, her outfit also makes Matthews look like she’s imprisoned. Perhaps she has been living in an emotional prison. But no longer. It seems fitting that Lily Allen’s “West End Girl” unlocked the key to Matthews gaining freedom for her anger, as well as opening her up to the possibilities of bisexuality, and reframing her attitude.
You know just how solid her stand-up skills are when even an indirect callback (or two!) earns her an applause break and raucous laughter a half-hour later.
Amy Matthews: Definitions of Toast plays The Tron (O’Neills) at Monkey Barrel during the 2026 Edinburgh Fringe.
