Review – EDGE!
You might know Stella (Isabel Angus) from her viral internet sensation “Marshmallows and Clouds” – it got ten million views, apparently, and now the 11-year-old is here in Bris-, err, Adelaide to take her stardom to the next level! Although only with the help of her loyal techie Ashley (Rachel Davis), of course.
EDGE! is a parody of tween stardom and the state of affairs we came to somewhere between Britney Spears and Toddlers & Tiaras, with the increasing infantilisation of female sexuality. It’s not a new controversy, but then it’s never been given quite this treatment before.
The performers in this show are not, you won’t be surprised to hear, actually eleven or “like forty”. But Isabel commits to her role with such vigour that you believe her as a child star, even though she’s clearly at least a foot too tall. And that’s what makes this satire work so ridiculously well. Everything about this show is inappropriate, and if intellectually you know it’s all an act you still find yourself squirming as if it were real.
EDGE! is a fascinating and darkly hilarious commentary on the modern entertainment industry, and it’s nuanced in that way you can only get when you take everything up to eleven. Sometimes it takes a lone voice or two to point out the emperor is wearing a leather sex suit, and this is the show to do it. Its limited run is almost over, but this is a must see – make sure to check it out soon!
