5 stars
In Queer and Present Danger, comedy mastermind and self-titled voice of a generation Anna Piper Scott delivers a performance that entertains, enlightens, and astounds.
Fringe audiences should be no stranger to Scott, with her decade long career spanning both Perth and Melbourne. Those who’ve seen her before will go into this one expecting her usual brand of very clever acerbic humour, and there’s plenty of that on offer.
Image by Emma Holland
The audience is taken on a journey through the experience of being a trans woman, covering everything from early childhood memories to more recent experiences on the streets of Northbridge. The pacing is remarkable, with the kind of comedic density that comes from skilled writing and well-honed performance skills, while Scott’s dry delivery keeps the audience off balance.
Scott is an exceptional comedian, demonstrating her mastery of a vast range of comedic techniques. A series of quick fire setup-punchline couplets effectively warm her audience, then lead into longer anecdotal pieces peppered with witty and impeccably delivered asides that keep the humour rising until it reaches a glorious crescendo. Scott’s callbacks are elegant and used sparingly to great effect.This is wonderful stuff, and the sort of material that will appeal to any audience. Were this the sum of what Scott presents, anyone would be thoroughly satisfied to have experienced it.
However the third act, if you will, is what takes this from merely great to an all-time landmark show. Evoking the bleak reality of the pre-transition phase of her life, Scott silences the audience at a stroke. The laughter is still echoing in the room, but the crowd themselves are silent. Eyes that were a moment before glassy from mirth are suddenly beginning to well from compassion.
She doesn’t milk the pathos, but neither does she rush past it. It’s not to be taken lightly by any means. Scott’s ability to control the tone of a performance from piece to piece enables what could have been a serious misstep in the set of a lesser comedian to become instead a thing of truth, and truly painful beauty. There’s warmth in this show that we’ve not seen in Scott’s repertoire and she’s all the greater artist for it.
Queer and Present Danger is uplifting as much as it’s insightful and revealing. It’s hilarious and harrowing in unequal yet spectacularly balanced measure. It’s a show delivered with such skill, wit, and grace that it belies the emotional exposure that forms its core.
Tickets available at the FRINGE WORLD website.
GLEN SEABROOK-BENSON