The persistence of Ruth Wilkin has to be admired. Her dad has long since stopped pretending to be interested in her newest musical compositions and her mother nags her to be more like her academic sister, but Ruth will have none of it. She has a dream, the only dream worth having: to be a star. The award-winning Just a Little Something I’ve Been Working On is a satirical take on cabaret and the occasional enthusiastic, but misguided performers within it.
Everything about this cabaret suggests it could be playing out in Ruth’s living room. From the props from home kept in the stage’s back corner to the long golden gloves that Ruth may have pulled from the costume box, Just a Little Something I’ve Been Working On seems like every show ever put on by an excited child for her very patient parents – that is, if the child is a gifted musical prodigy. The seemingly amateur, hands-on approach taken in this performance is well-considered and deliberate. Despite wanting to give off the air of a seasoned performer, Ruth’s enthusiasm and erratic mannerisms give her away. This elaborate ruse is well-maintained throughout the show and is, in part, what makes it so much fun.
Clearly a gifted singer and songwriter, Wilkin tells the story of her journey to the cabaret stage through original songs, anecdotes and flashbacks. Fuelled by her refusal to acknowledge the series of rejections she’s received over the years as little more than the failure of others to admit her brilliance, Ruth puts on a cabaret. As you do.
All the songs are hilarious and some, like the one that displays her composition method, are refreshingly clever. The appeal of Ruth is how oblivious she is to her own awkwardness. She pulls all of the traditional cabaret stops – taking sips on stage from her martini glass, leaning on the piano – but somehow gets it endearingly wrong. Her enthusiasm and touch of the dramatic make her immediately likeable, which is confirmed when she sings the opening strains of her first number.
Just a Little Something I’ve Been Working On achieves an ideal balance of the sung and the spoken, coming to a satisfying cyclical conclusion. Ruth’s humorous lyrics, antics and fitting encore will stay with you long after the cabaret’s end, prompting the question: how on earth did she get knocked back at all of those auditions?
Just a Little Something I’ve Been Working On runs until 7 October at The Butterfly Club. Full ticketing information is available on the Fringe Festival website.
