(© Marc Brenner)
US internet star Dylan Mulvaney knows how to win over his audience. This becomes immediately clear when you enter the Assembly George Square Studios, where the starlet greets guests, chats a bit and acts like the nicest usher in town. Before the show has even started, she has us hooked: we are engrossed in her story.
Part musical, part cabaret, entirely confessional, Mulvaney’s F*ghag (produced by two of the hottest theatre producers of the moment, Wessex Grove and Seaview) takes the audience through a tumultuous hour of career highs and personal lows, from a Catholic upbringing to her transition (a twink funeral is particularly amusing) and finally to internet fame. It’s rollicking, delightful fun, skilfully directed by Tim Jackson (previously responsible for Two strangers (carrying a cake through New York)), with enough melancholy and dramatic tension to offer a proper narrative journey. Particularly captivating is the interaction between faith and sexuality (Mulvaney begins the story of her life as an angel in heaven) – an interplay between awe and irreverence.
You get the feeling that Mulvaney’s story could easily be extended by another 30 minutes – and maybe a new musical number or two to show off her wonderful singing voice. But as far as Fringe shows go, there’s plenty here to delight any viewer, whether they’re familiar with Mulvaney’s sensational rise to fame or her subsequent fiasco with a famous beer brand. A few amusing voice and video cameos add to the fun.
It’s also joyfully queer, with a well-argued appeal to nuance amid the frequent social media-fueled frenzy of modern times. A mega sing-along rounds out the show with a joyous moment of communal celebration. A guaranteed hit on both sides of the Atlantic.
