Felicity’ Score 5/5 OMGs
Oh my actual God! True Connection is coming to Australia and tickets go on sale tomorrow morning at 10am and Edna, like, has to go but her mum is being a total b*tch and won’t spend the $100+ on a ticket and now Brianna and Jules are going to go without her and she’ll never meet Harry and let him know that she really gets him, understands him, and if they just run away together they’ll live happily-
While this is the sparkly and exhilarating ride of a few teenagers being totally in love with a boy band member… Yve Blake’s pioneering musical conspires to flip that narrative so that ridicule become reverence. Blake’s musical is a dynamic and vibrant dissection of the real power behind the underestimated and mocked Fangirls of the world.
Edna (Blake) is a fanfic writing, True Connection loving, fourteen year old girl studying (courtesy of a scholarship) at high school. Whilst it’s clear she’s intelligent, her obsession with British pop star Harry (Ayden) is seen as a marker of immaturity at a time in which nine girls in her year already have boyfriends. When it is announced that True Connection is coming to Australia, this means Harry is coming too, and that means that Edna has her one shot at convincing Harry they’re meant to be together. Blake’s pop-filled incantation celebrates the prowess of teenage girls who defy all the judgement and self hatred that is inherently taught in the world that they grow up in. Too fat, too thin, prude, slutty, too apathetic, too…fangirl.
Paige Rattray directs a marvellous ensemble with what can only be interpreted as joy and play. The show is fun and uplifting. It’s energetic and moving, it’s political and glitzy. All of the juxtaposition, pressure, and energy living with a 14 year old girl manifests into a show that just ignites the audience. David Fleischer and Justin Harrison’s forces are joined to create costumes and video projections that accurately reflect the world of teens with social media; shiny and fantastically chaotic. I don’t know where to look, it is a visual feast. Sometimes within the sound getting a little lost, we didn’t quite catch some words, but the show recovered easily and excitement was palpable. The ensemble are a delight… Kimberley Hodgson, Chika Ikogwe, Ayesha Madon, James Majoos, and Sharon Millerchip provided the vocal skill, comedic timing, and earnestness necessary to solidify the fun night out.
Felicity Anderson – Theatre Now
Fangirls
Book, music, and lyrics by Yve Blake
Director Paige Rattray
12 Oct – 10 Nov 2019
Tuesday 6.30pm
Wednesday 6.30pm
Thursday 1pm & 7.30pm
Friday 7.30pm
Saturday 2pm & 7.30pm
Sunday 5pm
Previews
7.30pm, 12 October
6.30pm, 13 October
7.30pm, 15 October
Opening Night (invitation only)
7.30pm, 16 October
Post-show Q&A
22 October, directly following the performance
Thursday Matinee
1pm, 7 November
Unwaged Performance
1pm, 24 October
Belvoir Briefing
6.30pm, 8 October
Venue: Belvoir Theatre: Upstairs
Theatre Company: Belvoir Theatre Company
Duration: N/A
This is Edna. She’s 14, and she’s in love with Harry. There’s just one problem:
Harry is in ‘True Connection’ – the biggest boyband in the world. When True Connection announce a tour stop in Edna’s city she realises this is her one chance to convince Harry of their destiny, and she’ll do anything – ANYTHING – in the name of true love…
Fangirls is a thrilling new musical by a barnstorming young talent called Yve Blake. Proof that young women can do anything, Yve is also playing Edna. She’s joined by a cast of new young faces with brilliant voices for a show that’s Beyoncé concert-meets religious revival, with a wicked sense of humour, about love and other big feelings in the age of the internet.
This show is for anyone who’s ever been a fan. It’s especially for anyone who is or has ever been a girl with a screaming stadium of feelings inside them. It’s dreamy, wild, and hyperalive. We crawled over broken glass to bring it to Belvoir.
A co-production with Queensland Theatre, Brisbane Festival in association with Australian Theatre for Young People
CAST
Yve Blake
Designer David Fleischer
Vocal Arranger/ Music Director Alice Chance
Music Producer/ Sound Designer David Muratore
Sound Designer Michael Waters
Dramaturg Jonathan Ware
AV Designer Justin Harrison
Stage Manager Bella Kerdijk
Assistant Stage Manager Katie Moore
Ticket Prices
Single tickets will go on sale to the general public on 3 June 2019.
