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| Tyler Jacob Jones and Erin Hutchinson at the Cabaret Festival Gala |
The genre of cabaret can be a lot of things, which What Doesn’t Kill You [blah blah] Stronger
proves – it’s a lot of things all by itself. Focusing on a wide variety of real-life
stories of people surviving near death experiences, the show is an historical,
comedy, drama, documentary musical. It features an army of cats, man-eating
hippos, the Titanic’s sister ship and to help us along the way: a series of survival
tips throughout.
After winning a couple of awards at Fringeworld in Perth, the
team brings their perfectly-executed piece of cabaret to Melbourne. Performers
Tyler Jacob Jones and Erin Hutchinson are charming and witty, transforming
themselves into dozens of characters, all while belting out clever, insightful and
toe-tapping tunes. Jones’ lyrics are very sharp, playing with audience
expectations and telling some fascinating stories.
Inside the one-hour show, which barrels headlong from song
to song, there is also a fifteen-minute musical about a woman in a small rural
American town who is hit by falling space debris. It’s a riotous story about
fame and fortune and features an hilarious “I want” song from the meteorite
itself.
What Doesn’t Kill You
[blah blah] Stronger is a wild but tightly-crafted piece of theatre. Get
along for the survival tips alone. Because, as Tyler and Erin warn us, some
people might not even make it out of Chapel Off Chapel alive.
Second and final show tonight.
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