The Appointment: Stories from the Salon is a show about beauty therapy. Sam Donvito shares her stories and experiences about working as a beauty therapist for 14 years, from surviving beauty school to dealing with zany clients and waxing a lot of vaginas. Sam shows great confidence in her acting, changing characters with ease. She uses a few bare props and occasionally the audience in a bare room to tell her stories – sometimes even dancing when there’s no music at all.

Sam is the only star of the show and she tells the stories in an attempt to answer a pressing question by her friend Delia Taylor: “Have I wasted my life?” Her tales range from funny to serious; dealing with clients who think she stole their jewellery and waxing pornographers after a ‘busy day’. All throughout, Sam shares her feelings about her past experiences; how being a beauty therapist can leave her feeling insecure and unwanted.

Before the show begins, Delia performs a set of jazz songs on the theme of love – classics such as ‘Cry Me A River’, ‘Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps’, and ‘Trouble’. As a preamble to each song, Delia explains how that particular musical number relates to a moment in her love life. Delia’s voice reminded me of Julie London, with a bit of awkward deadpan humour thrown in, reminding me of Australian comic Kate McLennan. It’s worth showing up half an hour before the show to hear her perform.

Even though I was outside of the target audience, with the majority of viewers being middle aged and female, I enjoyed the show. Sam’s stories, while funny, left me wishing she had upped the humour by a fraction. If you’re in the mood for an autobiographical work of theatre, then this is the show for you. These are short stories you don’t hear every day.