When sitting down to review Liz Kingsman’s critically acclaimed One Woman Show at the Sydney Opera House, the real challenge is trying not to reveal too much while simultaneously describing one of the funniest comedic performances you’ll see this year.
Written and performed by Kingsman and directed by Adam Brace, One Woman Show uses self-deprecating, observational humour to ensure the audience remains in a state of rolling laughter for the entire seventy-minute run time.
Kingsman adopts a non-linear style of storytelling, jumping from the present to the past to the present-past and the distant past with seamless timing. This approach is aided largely by the clever lighting and sound design which helps to guide the audience through the maze of words and anecdotes.
This impressive scattergun narrative exposes the frustrating and at times nonsensical tropes often associated with female storytelling. Two women who live together – they must sit around in their underwear talking about men all the time and that woman who is moody, distant and borderline depressed – well, she’s just quirky. And have you ever really thought about just how loud and absurd those pod coffee machines are? Cause you will now.
While these accurate observations were exaggerated and played up for laughs, there was an element of truth and exasperation behind it. Kingsman’s work is a parody but it also manages to make persuasive social commentary about women’s stories and how so often the roles afforded to women are the ones they create for themselves.
I’m reluctant to delve too deeply into the actual story itself – for anyone intending on seeing One Woman Show (which should be everyone), it would be one huge spoiler. A large part of what made this performance so hilarious was the not knowing. It was impossible to predict how the story was going to end, or where Kingsman was planning on taking you next, the only thing that was certain, was that you were grateful to be along for the ride.
Kingsman is a genius and One Woman Show is storytelling at its best. Witty, cheeky and oddly relatable, this could herald a new era of women taking centre stage and I am here for it.
FIVE STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Reviewer attended on 3 February.
One Woman Show runs until 19 February 2023 at the Sydney Opera House. For more information and to book head to the website.
Photos: Dylan Woodley
