So with a title like “Dr Felicity Rickshaw’s Celebrity Sex Party”, I knew not to bring my Mum along to this show and I wondered if it would be my thing…but in truth, I shouldn’t have worried.
Yes, it’s a little bit naughty, yes, it’s little bit absurd, but it’s also very funny and has a lot of heart. In short “Dr Felicity…” is very possibly exactly what a FringeWorld show should be.
Holland St Productions have delivered a high quality musical comedy. We have a bouncy score, excellent support from the chorus of “Sex Encyclopaedia’s”, Erin Hutchinson, Claire Haddon-Casey and Tyler Jacob Jones (who also wrote the book, lyrics AND directed it!) and an engaging performance from our heroine Amy, aka Dr Felicity Rickshaw (Amy Russotti).
Amy, an awkward “virgin from Perth, Western Australia” with a crush on her co-worker Ben is secretly… internet, award winning, erotic celebrity fiction writer, Dr Felicity Rickshaw!
Interspersed with a simple plot about Amy’s love life and impending eviction from her former family home, we have fantasy scenes and songs from Amy’s fertile imagination involving all manner of celebrities… Keanu Reeves, Harry Styles, Meryl Streep, Madonna, Colin Firth…and the positions they might find themselves in… ahem.
Where the show really hits the humour is with the celebrity impersonations… who doesn’t love a good Keanu impersonation? Meryl Streep anyone? Colin Firth as Mr D’Arcy complete with white undershirt, emerging from a fake pond as he did in Pride and Prejudice? There was a lot to like. But by far my favourite was Claire-Haddon-Casey as Madonna, dressed circa 1985 and speaking with an accent described thus “as if established vowel sounds were only a suggestion”. So much to think about in such a short sentence…
If you’re looking for a musical comedy to see this week at FringeWorld, I can definitely say I got a giggle from this one.
Martina Breen, Theatre Now Perth
