Dorothy Parker’s Sweet Release Of Death: ‘Poet. Alcoholic. Aspiring Corpse…’ ~ Adelaide Fringe 2024 Review             

[CABARET/Comedy ~ VIC] Henry's Table at Ayers House, Fri 23 Feb, 2024. Lucy Gransbury doesn’t even make it to the stage before she has the audience laughing out loud. In an inspired piece of audience participation Dorothy Parker needs help from someone in the audience to get up onto the stage, and this becomes a running joke as her victim is called back to the stage whenever she needs help with something, such as picking up a dropped ice cube should it escape the drink in her hand. The sweet release of death in the title refers to Dorothy Parker’s fixation with ending her life after composing a suitably pithy suicide note. For someone who lived to the ripe age of 73 Parker seems to have spent a lot of time contemplating her own demise. Her unexpected longevity seems to have had something to do with her considering none of the options for suicide to be suitable. Ever the critic! All this would seem grim stuff for a fun night out, except that Lucy has turned Parker’s renowned wit and public notoriety into a cabaret tour de force. The show is packed with parodies of well known songs of the era cleverly given a dark humorous twist which appeals to anyone with an appreciation of gallows humour, and Lucy is able to carry this material with great skill. Musical accompaniment is provided by a seemingly timid Deborah Brennan, ever fearing the next Parker outburst. She even has to put up with being called Brenda. At one point Lucy is singing melodically with her mouth stuffed with chocolate, quite a feat! Her comic timing is faultless. There are no flat spots as she keeps her glass refilled or fixes an audience member with a withering stare. She wanders through the audience singling out several people for comment about their appearance or perceived personality. Later she ventures out again with chocolate for everyone she was rude to, with further hilarious effect. Lucy cleverly incorporates some of Parker’s more famous quotes into her own. Parker’s disdain for A.A.Milne is on the record, and an extended critique of Winnie The Pooh is gold in Lucy’s hands. Ultimately the Dorothy Parker we are presented with is a caricature for the purposes of cabaret entertainment. There are no subtle moments of introspection and we can only wonder about Parker’s private and saner moments. But it is a very clever and amusing caricature, which makes for a memorable evening out! Dorothy Parker's Sweet Release Of Death continues at Henry's Table at Ayers House from 7pm until Sat Mar 9. Book at FringeTIX and adelaidefringe.com.au. Click HERE to purchase your tickets. 4 stars Adrian Miller #ClotheslineMag #ADLfringe