Dumped! The Musical

Dumped! The Musical gives a two-hour song-and-dance peek at the question men wish they knew the answer to: what do women think when they get dumped?

Emma Powell has created the world of Dumpees Anonymous, facilitated by Harmony (Jennifer Vuletic), who parodies the New Age mumbo-jumbo self-help guru that women of a certain age seem to find appealing.

Powell’s muffin-eating character, Sue, and Sharon (Mandi Lodge) – who has been dumped by her husband after he truthfully answered the question, “Does my bum look big in this?” – seem to think so.

At least until the “crazy, demented stalker woman” Vera (Amanda Levy) comes and brings some hot and spicy to the meeting.

Vera is a volcano erupting in a rush. She has no interest in getting over her ex-, she wants revenge. Levy plays Vera with the exact amount of intensity needed. She’s at once sexy and scary.

Onto more aesthetic matters, Shaun Boland’s set uses the space perfectly: a slanting stage with four pillars that can be turned to show different faces to the audience and four stools that can store props. It turns a small stage into five sets with minimal time and effort.

Normally you want to be tactful when referring to middle-aged women – the audience for this show – but the message here is: be bold, be beautiful, be yourself; and don’t forget to laugh.

Daniel G Taylor

Image: from back left Amanda Levy, Jennifer Vuletic, Emma Powell, and front centre Mandi Lodge

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