Red Flag

Greta Lee Jackson. Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Evatt Room @ Trades Hall. 30 March – 9 April 2017

Greta presents how she undermines her very unsuccessful attempts to form adult relationships because of her desperate need to be accepted and her use of sex and drugs to ‘spak fill’ where the ‘trauma termites’ had eaten away her self-esteem.

She sets up ‘red flags’ as an ongoing punchline which gives some structure to an episodic ramble through a series of disastrous relationships. It is somewhat in the style of Fiona O’Loughlin without her exquisite self-depreciation.

Greta sits on a high stool with a microphone stand rising between her legs holding a pink book from which she reads her script. It is static and awkward and limits the possibilities of physical expression.

This material could make a compelling book. With very little tweaking it could make a really good play. Unfortunately, as it is, it does not make funny theatre. While Greta does attempt to gain an ironic distance from herself in the story, the presentation feels much more like a therapy session with Greta telling all, than a crafted piece of theatre. It is by turn embarrassing, repetitious and appalling and despite Greta’s accomplished use of language, only very occasionally worth a giggle.

Ruth Richter