Jamie Mykaela is packing a punch from the moment she opens the front door to her athletic Olympian finale.
We begin with her ‘overcompensating opening’ number, giggling awkwardly and nervously as we await what’s in store. There are baskets of ping pong balls. There are kazoos. There is a wedding in the National Wine Centre courtyard. Where will we be taken in her debut Adelaide show, and what background cavorting will be heard on the bride and groom video?
Jamie deliberately underplays her talents as she builds her repertoire with her guitar, but she’s in full operatically trained histrionics by the time her trusted sidekick, the ukulele, appears. Engaging and feisty, topical and funny, by the time Jamie moves into her ‘origin story’, we’re hooked.
A long (& sometimes tortuous) performance history has taught Jamie how to connect with her audience and we’re right with her through the poignant times to the terrifying. She’s angry and she’s empathetic, scared and outraged.
However Jamie is also a skilled performer, and although we’ve been taken to dark places, she knows when to lift us out, and the final event has us venting our rage in a communal choir (remembering that we’re the soundtrack to the wedding video might have enhanced our bellowing) and then we’re launched into the grand finale with physical cabaret.
This show encompasses what Fringe should be about, giving a platform to new and emerging shows and giving them the support to see where they’ll go. Well done EpodCentral.
Jamie is on at the deliciously cool National Wine Centre until the 6 March. If you’re easily offended by language, bring earplugs, and support this young performer on her road to her inevitable 5 stars.
Purchase tickets here:
https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/jamie-mykaela-s-napoleon-complex-af2019
February 26, 2019
I would like to hear anything Jane Durbridge has to say