LADY BEATLE at The Little Red Company

Created by Adam Brunes and Naomi Price, Lady Beatle is a work that'll leave you filled with so much joy that you'll be bouncing for days.

Contrary to what you might think, Lady Beatle is not a biopic of the fab hour that we all cherish and love. To be honest, I'm not quite sure what the narrative was and dramaturgically it was very hard to follow what relation to storyteller (Lady Beatle) had to the Beatles, and when her identity was revealed, it left me confused rather than fulfilled. I wish there would have been clearer hints throughout the performance about her identity and a commentary on why the creators made the decision to have a female actor play the role, instead of a male, would have really added more depth and clarity to the performance.

However, the music and the performances were excellent. The roundhouse theatre is transformed into the Lonely Hearts Club, with a stage on which Naomi Price as Lady Beatle shows off her incredible vocals and on which the virtuosic Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band plays. The band consists of guitarist Jason McGregor, pianist Michael Manikus, bass guitarist Andrew Johnson and drummer Mick Easterman who, along with Price, perform catalogue of Beatles songs including a nostalgic, stripped back rendition of Penny Lane and a haunting Eleanor Rigby. And the band were incredible, especially in their improvised solos at the end of the piece. Price, as always, is a theatrical powerhouse and lights up the stage with her charisma and infectious energy.

The music and the way Price made each song her own made you feel a plethora of emotions; ranging from joy, sadness and everything else in between.

This show had me dancing in my seat and singing all the words to the songs, oblivious to those sitting beside me. If you're reading this, then I'm very sorry but if you don't join in with Yellow Submarine, Let It Be and Hey Jude, then are you really a Beatles fan?

This production is touring all over Queensland, so make sure you follow Little Red Company to see if they're doing a show near you.

Rating: 3.5 Stars

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