Presented by Paper Mouth Theatre in co-production with Wickedly Good Productions
Part stand-up, part theatre, 100% hilarious and wholly inventive, Grief Lightning will have you questioning everything you thought you knew about the iconic musical Grease.
The 1978 film Grease is beloved world-wide as an idealised picture of adolescent love. Who can forget Sandy and Danny sitting in that souped-up car that flew them to heaven as the end-credits began to roll, happily ever after? Well, that chariot to the stars has conspiracy theory written all over it, and writer / performer Mary Angley has prepared a lecture on the topic for our entertainment.
Are Sandy and Danny actually dead at the end of the film? Did Sandy drown in the beginning scenes, though not completely, only just enough to put her in a coma where she could dream the musical up before she actually does succumb to the ill-fated summer-loving beach waves? That’s theory one. Theory two involves mishap at the Pink Ladies’ slumber party. Theory three blames the car itself.
In 13 scenes from the film itself and 78 slides projected behind her, Angley is simultaneously controlled and out-there funny in her intimidating, academic, quasi-absurd intensity. Is she poking fun at university lecturers or at conspiracy theorists? Maybe she’s aiming her satire at power points? Citing Reddit, Wikipedia and the likes of lifestyle website mumslounge.com, Angley makes a case for an alternative view to the upbeat Grease. Sometimes her voice accompanies a slowed-down version of what’s actually said on screen (thumbs up to sound designer Dan Thorpe) so that fantasy and reality feel oddly the same, and it’s eerie, no more bubble-gum and soda-pop feels. This is where digressions calling out Danny Zuko as teenage male predator are particularly poignant, responding to that mix of comedy with trauma so well-honed by Hannah Gadsby, for instance. In this context, gender identity is ripe for discussion and queer theory saves the day – this isn’t 1978, after all, and we demand as much.
Grief Lightningunreservedly delivers. What a clever show, completely relevant and gutsy, and comedically on-point.
Reviewed by Heather Taylor-Johnson
Rating out of 5: 4 ½ stars
Where: RUMPUS, 100 Sixth Street, Bowden
Season: Until 30 April 2022
Tickets: $30
Bookings: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/grief-lightning-a-satire-in-78-slides-tickets-274588992067
Photo Credit: Matthew Steen
More News
