REVIEW: CATWALK CONFIDENTIAL, The Arts Theatre, September 16 2009

Ex-supermodel Robyn Peterson is now an Emmy-nominated actress, and the production team behind her one-woman show have some impressive credits to their names, including Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and a new Broadway play starring Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman. Perhaps, therefore, it was only because I was expecting such a high-quality piece of theatre that I found Catwalk Confidential quite underwhelming.

For an autobiographical show which is essentially an hour-long monologue, the performer needs to have had a fascinating life, and luckily, Robyn does have some great stories to tell. The highlight has to be her admission of stealing the centre-piece bikini at a Karl Lagerfeld show from the model of the moment's clothes rack. It was an inspired way to get ahead in the cut-throat fashion industry, where a few immoral acts are par for the course of success. However, there was a disappointing lack of juicy gossip about any famous names.

Robyn came across as a charmingly vivacious character, and her stories depicted her teenage self as a free-spirited yet quick-witted young woman. The show's reliance on Robyn's candid openness was somewhat problematic, since she admits that not all of the stories actually happened to her, but she earned the audience's sympathy with her revelation of how quickly her moment in the spotlight passed. Her career options had dried up by the age of twenty-six and she was stuck in an unhappy marriage to a photographer whose career was equally floundering.

Condensing Robyn's story into a one-hour show meant that Catwalk Confidential never became boring, but I still didn't feel like I'd gained much from the experience. The show could be most effectively summarised as interesting, but not very memorable. However, it did conclude on a positive note with a truly fabulous ending.

 

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