Alice Fraser – The Resistance: Smart And Thoughtful Comedy… But A Disorganised Performance – Adelaide Fringe Review

Gluttony – The Piglet, Wed 17 Feb Alice Fraser – The Resistance is a smart and thoughtful comedy, which fails to deliver due to a lacklustre and disorganised performance. Telling a collection of stories from an unconventional upbringing, Alice brings to life a series of kooky characters that brightened her childhood and helped to shape her current worldview. From the mysterious Indian witch to the seven and a half fingered Chilean gardener, these guys are so much stranger than fiction and provide plenty of comedic material. Not afraid to tackle the big issues, Alice has intelligent and insightful views on race, religion, gender and body image issues. There are a few scattered songs throughout with Alice accompanying herself on a ukulele or tiny piano, but they don’t really add any value and only serve to emphasise Alice’s limited musical ability. However it’s the stagecraft and delivery that really let the show down. With messy notes scattered across the stage Alice doesn’t appear to have any of her own lyrics memorised, reading them from a computer throughout the performance and even stopping to scroll down the screen. She even apologises at one point for being “messy and half-formed” which somehow makes it even worse. The really disappointing part is that the ending proves that the show has a lot of potential; it was just squandered by a lazy performance. In a pretty serious emotional turn, Alice revisits all the kooky characters, which were quite funny just 10 minutes earlier, and reveals the stories behind the stories. Showing that truth is subjective and that being a good person is not always easy, the show suddenly finds the meaning it so desperately needed. With some heavy editing and a lot of polishing, this could be a pretty good show. I just wish it had been done prior to opening. Nikki Mott Alice Fraser – The Resistance continues at Gluttony – The Piglet from 7.40pm until Sun 28 Feb. Book at FringeTIX on 1300 621 255 or adelaidefringe.com.au. Click HERE to purchase your tickets.