REVIEW: DIARY OF A POWER PUSSY
2.5 out of 5 stars
A hot mess of glitter, circus performers and powerful voices, Diary of a Power Pussy has the potential to be a really fantastic show, if it had been rehearsed. A night more focused on feminine energy, doing what you want and swearing a lot rather than feminine empowerment, the show is free form, story-less but full of powerhouse vocals and some amusing circus performers.
What is a Power Pussy? I wish I knew, because while her intentions might have been good, Sophie Delightful certainly didn’t explain it. Bursting in clad in a glitter clitoris, Delightful is a natural entertainer, stereotypically Australian and not at all shy, but she’s also potentially jetlagged, having mentioned at least three times that she’s fresh off the plane from LA that day. The show is definitely raw but unfortunately unrehearsed and a playful, colourful shambles. It’s high energy and high spirits as the audience is into the ridiculousness,
Featuring three out of her six circus and burlesque friends, opening night featured Coral Jade on hula hoops, Bubblegum Bitch and Zia Electric, juxtaposed against Delightful’s songs and pieces from her diary. Her Sia-esque, sometimes Christina Aguilera sounding vocals are show stopping as she sings through Circus- Britney Spears, There are worse things I could do from Grease, Feeling Good by Nina Simone and more. She’s sassy and her show is about being sassy and letting loose your inner sass. The show touches on marriage equality commentary, reflects on parts of Delightful’s life and relationships and her acceptance of herself and who she is. In ripped tights, head to toe leopard print and a fierce stance, she inspires you to not care about other people, when they don’t love you as you are and want you to change (like people she’s previously loved). The live singing feels full of heart and she wanders through the audience and interacts with them, but the show is little more than her and her friends having a bit of fun and performing as they like – and maybe that’s the point of the show.
Coral Jade on hula hoops is a dynamic performer with some serious skills, but it feels like she’s had no time to rehearse her routine in the space as you can see her trying to judge her throws and distance in the small space. She and her holographic rainbow hoops manage well, and she gets the crowd going (as we’re off to a slow start).
Bubblegum Bitch (other than sharing her name with a Marina and the Diamonds song from 2012) is a straight up clown, combining juggling, slapstick humour and manipulating chewing gum as part of her act. There’s nothing sexy about bubble gum and it’s a bit gross to watch but it has the audience in stitches and is one of the more entertaining parts of the show. She’s awkward and endearing, but her idea of getting the audience to create a mural of bubble gum power pussies is both sticky, kind of cute but completely unexplained and a really slow point in the pace of the show.
Less burlesque and much more straight up strip tease, featuring spinning light up what looked like dildos, the kooky Zia Electric is emotionless and cold like her robot alien costume. My experience of burlesque is much more around dancing, clowning and performing to entice laughter, with allure, drama, or caricaturing, and exploring something serious, emotional or with story: this was straight up stripping.
The show is an adaptation of Delightful’s normal shows to fit into the Fringe Festival, and while it needs more work, there’s definitely a vibe of feminine empowerment and acceptance that leaves the audience smiling and feeling good.
This article first appeared at: http://www.theatrepeople.com.au/diary-of-a-power-pussy/ on 19 September 2017.
