Cabaret Fringe

Cabaret Fringe Festival Review: Petty Bitches

An hour of sour in a comical, musical conference on how to be a petty bitch for beginners, presented by two divas in the know.

To be petty is not to be childish because every detail counts.
4

Presented by Boo Dwyer and Tash York
Reviewed 27 June 2019

The devil is in the detail, or so we are told early in this outrageous musical conference on how to be a petty bitch. There is a fine line not to be crossed between bitchiness and just being nasty. The examples given are for paying ears only.

Adelaide’s Boo Dwyer & Melbourne’s Tash York have come together to school the cool in the ways of the B-I-T-C-H – an acronym that will be broken down over the course of a very funny hour of sour.

The duo, resplendent in leopard print designs, aren’t always harmonious except when they’re belting out magnificent medleys and changing the lyrics to well-know songs. Their evocative instrumental on a couple of kazoos is a masterpiece of manipulation and storytelling.

These are very funny gals with a makeup bag of everything: stage presence, smooth grooves, cheeky humour and a robotic sister to help things along. A lot is crammed into just 55 minutes so there’s rarely enough time to clap after songs, although each number deserves an accolade.

When they’re not singing and grinding on stage, they address the attendees with stories and examples of petty bitchiness. Film clips provide scenes of bitchiness in practice, from Pretty Woman to The Terminator, which work well between PowerPoint slides and other tools of conference presentations. My only bitch is that all examples are of females in action, suggesting that men can’t be bitches – a fact that I’m sure most gay guys and drag queens would contest.

Petty Bitches has a two-night season only, finishing up on Friday night. The 6.30pm timeslot is ideal for a quick show in the city after work, and is an ideal de-stressor after a week in the office. Missing it would be a…well, you know what.

Reviewed by Rod Lewis
Twitter: @StrtegicRetweet

Rating out of 5: 4

When: 27 & 28 June 2019 at 6.30pm
Where: Gluttony (Masonic Lodge), 254 North Tce, Adelaide
Duration: 55 minutes
Tickets: $25 – $27
Bookings: Cabaret Fringe Festival website

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