Theatre Review - Party Girl

​​​​Party Girl

Creator/Performer Lucy Heffernan

Director/Producer Lily Hayman

KXT on Broadway until May 28

Photo Credit Clare Hawley

Reviewed by Ron Lee, CSP

Theatre that works on the fringe is often self-congratulatory and indulgent, and it can equally be innovative, raw and quirky. Fortunately, there is no shortage of the latter.

KXT (Kings Cross Theatre) has moved to an 1890s heritage sandstone bank building that is on Sydney’s Broadway. The irony is that Party Girl is essentially an off-Broadway type of production.

It’s a 55 minute monologue about Fairy Sparkles, a vulnerable, foul-mouthed, children's party fairy and her relationship with her mother who suffers from Bipolar Disorder.

Apart from the laughs and the music, there’s pathos and insight into some of the people who hire talent for their children’s birthday parties. As Fairy, Lucy Heffernan breaks the second and fourth walls and looks at audience members as she shares some of her real-life experiences. It’s not like she’s performing; she’s giving us a look into her life. Her ability to connect a true talent.

I wondered about a couple of aspects of this production. Why did Fairy speak Australian and sing American? Why was the audience sitting to her left and right only? Looking in front, she was playing to a wall of lights.

Producer/Director Lily Hayman is kicking quite a few goals and is one of the busiest and most driven people in the theatre. People like her are the lifeblood, present and future of the industry.

Party Girl is part of TAPE OVER, “a festival of work by female and gender diverse artists at KXT from May 24 - June 17”. This production runs until May 28.

There is nothing as entertaining and stimulating as creative, innovative fringe theatre, and that a conservative, heritage sandstone building now houses such productions makes it all the more interesting. Get along to see Party Girl. You will have an enjoyable and thought-provoking experience and you’ll see the cutting edge of theatre in Sydney.