Each of the five women have their moment to shine, sharing their story in a unique but memorable way. Paula Parore is Ma Rainey, the mother of the blues. Seranading the audience with drunken cackles and wild tales of success, Parore is captivating with a deep powerful voice that will send shivers down your spine. Bar a minor slip of character that seemed to stretch on just a moment too long as Parore lost her place, she tends to sustain a strong character as she details her tough beginnings and how she truly influenced the birth of the Harlem Renaissance.

Libby Hammer as Bessie Smith immediately enthralls the audience, reeling among them with an aggressive forwardness that so defines her character. Chatting with audience members, Hammer portrays a strong woman from a difficult childhood, determined to make her mark with a fierce competitive edge. Blasting the house down with a voice drenched in power, Hammer truly embodies the Bessie Smith that went down in blues legends. Both Ma Rainey and Bessie speak of their lovers (each other included) in a candid way so unusual for the decade but accepted in the small pocket of Harlem, showing it for the truly unique place it was.

Ofa Fotu as Gladys Bentley is next, a revolutionary figure in the LGBT community, the first cross-dressing performing woman who openly identified as a lesbian. With a gravelly, deep throated voice, Fotu is astounding as both a singer and an actor – leaving the audience laughing uncontrollably at one moment, then pensive and empathetic at the next.

Natalie Gillespie as Ethel Waters and Harry Deluxe as Alberta Hunters finish the show, both telling stories of determined success from abusive and heart-breaking beginnings. Gillespie is the sauciest of all, holding the audience in her palm as she croons with a soft smile and swaying hips. Deluxe is heart-rendering as an eleven year old Alberta and a triumph as the same woman of 82 years old.

The band support the powerful performances throughout and almost steal the show at opportune moments with some impressive solos by pianist Jonathan Fernandes and bassist Almore James. Robert Bresland on the trumpet is particularly of note, rightfully owning the spotlight in his times to shine with fabulous blues tunes.

Overall the performance of both musicians and artists is admirable, complemented well by the choice of a blues club style bar and held together by the host for the evening, played by Pippa Bainbridge. Stage craft is perfectly suited to the era, with feathers, sequins, drop-waist skirts and flapper dresses, as well as mood lighting, a following spot and projected scenes. Unfortunately, the projected sets crafted by Jenna Downing are difficult to make out and only in low light do they add much to the scene: most of the time they are too obscured by light to be appreciated.

A Saucy Little Secret is truly an amazing piece written by Melanie Bainbridge that really comes alive through the impressive renditions and acting of its cast, and the music of the wonderful band. As an homage to these great women of blues history, it is a thorough success.

Directed by Joseph O’Farrell, A Four- Eyed Guide to the Galaxy sees Buzz and her sausage-dog Sputnik alone on earth after a mass exodus of the human race to Mars. Not only does Hutson manage to carry the audience through an hour show all on her own, Buzz also comes through as a lovely, endearing space geek dreaming of the stars who just wants a little bit of company.

Performing in the Fringe Hub, Huston uses the performance space with great dexterity, even at times leaping through the audience. No stranger to physical theatre, Huston employs some hilariously daggy dance moves as we make our way through her story of how she ended up where she is today. O’Farrell’s choice of simple lighting, openly hand-crafted set design and a great soundtrack of classic 80s space ballads works very well to fit in with Buzz’s story and maintain the high energy of the one-woman show. From the get-go the performance is lively and fun, with Buzz proving herself to be a sympathetic and captivating host.

What’s great about this show is how it is accessible for all ages, as Hutson works off the audience with questions, jokes and discussion. It’s quite the spectacle – replete with space themed pyjamas and Sputnick never leaving her side, Hutson gives her audience a very strong performance.

For all the singing and dancing along with carefully drawn galaxies and a lovingly hand built rocket, the show really revolves around Buzz’s innocence, sincerity and hope. The spectators become a part of her world, a participant in her quest to fulfil her dreams of space. With enthusiasm and laughter, we happily follow Buzz along for the ride, feeling privileged to partake in an adventure with such a lovable and damn cute character. Huston is particularly moving in quiet moments discussing her absent father and mother, managing to reflect on tricky subject matter without bringing down the up-beat and hopeful mood of the show.

For lovers of her previous successful Fringe show The Unstoppable, Unsung Story of Shaky M you will recall how well Hutson was able to portray an optimistic but lonely soul, impossible not to like while subtly commenting on society. Similarly in this show, Hutson delivers a poignant message under all the laughs, if only we’d tried a little harder to look after our beautiful planet Earth.

O’Farrell and Hutson have done a wonderful job in bringing this fun show to life, leaving the audience wondering if this is indeed the future us humans have to look forward to.

Click here for more information and to purchase tickets to the show. 

MamaShak is the gypsy overlord at a circus that runs off desire. When she is mysteriously murdered, Detective Morgaine tries to crack the case. Along the way, she meets many interesting performers, from a bearded Amazonian to Elle Diablo, who has mastered the unique talent of sword swallowing.

All in all, the performance showcases a vast array of talent in the circus and burlesque area. With impressive circus feats, Morgaine opens the show and sets our expectations high as she balances in gravity-defying positions. Then the three burlesque dancer felines – Taffy, Ginger Snapz and Loli Box as well as their ringmaster, the bearded Tiki Amazon – get the ball rolling on this fun, naughty and seriously sexy show.

All four of the burlesque dancers have absolutely fabulous expressions throughout and it’s hard for the audience to not get swept up in their performances. The talent all-round is impressive, particularly Mimi, the hula hooping hooker who manages to incite sympathy all the while whirling multiple hula hoops around her body.

Set in an intimate space, the stagecraft revolves around the fabulous make up and costumes of muted shades to give a real film noir feel. There are sequins, fishnets and wigs galore as well as a fair bit of skin on show. The projected voice of the deceased MamaShak works well to transition between scenes, drawing the audiences focus away from the necessary shifting of props. Although just a voice, her quirky and demanding personality really comes through. Chest of Wonders, a reasonably new performance company, does well to fit the bill of a film noir murder mystery.

However, the show doesn’t quite manage to come off as a true ensemble piece. What the show does lack is strong character acting, which may have been lost in all of the splendor and glamour the great circus performances provided. Although each individual performance was entertaining, it seemed to be missing that ‘wow’ factor – something to seamlessly weave the piece together and create a strong cohesive whole.

Overall Who killed MamaShak? is one to see for all lovers of burlesque and circus or anyone looking for something a little different to their normal serious fare.

But beware: you’ll be exposed to laughs, unexpected facial hair and breasts.

You’ve been warned.

Click here for more information about the show and to purchase tickets. 

Hamlet is the classic Shakespeare tale of the young Prince Hamlet of Denmark spiraling into supposed ‘madness’ as he tries to avenge his father’s death,  murdered at the hands of Hamlet’s uncle, the King’s brother. All the Shakespearean elements are there – sex, murder, intrigue, royalty, and the supernatural.

Directed by Dan Bellis who also acts in the piece, Page to Stage‘s Hamlet features minimal set design, sound production and simple but effective lighting, allowing the play to focus entirely on the action that unfolds. Situated in the intimate Samurai AV space, the language stays true to Elizabethan English but the play is made accessible to all through character portrayal and interactions, as well as a condensed script.

Playing in the title role, Peter Garratt does an admirable job of delivering some of Hamlet’s most famous soliloquies. His opening soliloquy in particular (“Oh, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt…”) stood out for the candour with which he showed his character’s varying emotions of anger, despair and betrayal – and this was before he’d even found out his father was murdered.

Further highlights were his and Ophelia’s (played by Jen Bush) confrontation scene. Despite the easy route of melodrama, both Garratt and Bush give an anguished performance without becoming over the top.

Another stand-out scene was the clever use of puppets in the place of the players, all animated by the ‘mad’ Hamlet replete with funny voices and singing. Although I was sceptical of the directorial choice to use toys in the place of actors, I was happy to be proved wrong as it painted Hamlet as an even more sympathetic character with funny flair.

Brian Edmund is excellent in his role as Polonius. Not only does he provide the much needed comic relief with excellent timing but he is also a loving, though somewhat silly father.

Also worth mentioning is Eleanor Ruth and her portrayal of multiple characters (Marcellus, Rosencrantz, Priest, Orsic) with dexterity and control.

However, the idea of a fly-on-the-wall documentary as a medium is good but tends to fall flat.

For example, Horatio, Prince Hamlet’s close friend, has been commissioned by Queen Gertrude to film a documentary of the royal family to curry public opinion. While the idea is great, Horatio’s position of hanging out left of the stage or in front of the stage makes his character seem quite unfeeling and awkward to the point of being creepy, especially as his position makes him not quite part of the action but still able to react to a small degree all the same. In addition, there seemed to be a distinct lack of consistency – perhaps I was missing something, but I was often confused as to why Horatio would appear camera in hand in one scene then be absent in another.

Nevertheless, the video camera in the corner does work quite well at times, cleverly used to enhance comic elements of the script in character interactions. It also overcomes the difficulty of a modern audience embracing the ‘aside’ as characters have a camera (and cameraman) to address.

Overall the actors involved all present solid character portrayals and do justice to the brilliance of Shakespeare’s script. This is a play to see for any fans of Shakespeare or anyone looking to discover the classic in an understandable, modern context.

Click here for more information about the show and to purchase tickets.