Phoebs, you're a Lesbian - The Loading Dock

Phoebs, You're a Lesbian

The Loading Dock

"Phoebs, you’re a Lesbian" arrives at Qtopia's Pride Fest fresh from a well-received Adelaide Fringe season. Written and performed by Phoebe Rodger, a recent graduate of the Elder Conservatorium's Bachelor of Music Theatre program, it is a bright, personable hour that showcases an emerging talent finding her voice.

Framed around Rodger's journey towards embracing her identity, the show navigates first loves, expectations and the peculiar rituals of contemporary queer life. While the autobiographical material rarely digs into darker emotional territory, it provides a solid framework for a series of engaging anecdotes and comic observations. A 78er in the audience on the night I attended provided a timely reminder that we've come a long way. The ease with which Rodger can celebrate, question and joke about her identity is itself part of that story, made more resonant by the fact that the performance takes place within the walls of what was once Darlinghurst Gaol. The freedoms and affirmations that underpin Rodger's cheerful self-examination sit in quiet conversation with a site that once represented something very different for Sydney's queer community.

The show confirms Rodger as a promising comedy writer rather than a fully realised cabaret artist. Her observations are smart, her storytelling assured, and there are flashes of a genuinely acerbic sensibility waiting to emerge. One suspects that with age and experience the sweetness may evolve into something sharper, stranger and ultimately more distinctive.

Accompanying herself on keyboard for much of the performance, Rodger delivers an original score that is pleasant and earnest, though its reliance on similar melodic structures can leave individual songs blurring together. For a performer with such evident comic instincts, the music occasionally feels content to support the material rather than challenge it.

The aesthetic is unapologetically pink, earnest and affirming. Younger audience members may embrace it wholeheartedly; older cynics may find themselves longing for a little more bite amongst the glitter. Yet Rodger's sincerity is difficult to resist, and the audience's affection for her is palpable.

As is so often the case in The Loading Dock, the sound balance works against a lyric-driven show. The keyboard arrives crystal clear while key lines disappear into the room, frustrating when Rodger's words are so obviously her strongest currency.

"Phoebs, you’re a Lesbian" is less a polished cabaret than a charming introduction to an emerging voice. The evening succeeds not because every song lands, but because Rodger herself does. The talent is unmistakable; the sharper, riskier work that may come next is perhaps the most exciting prospect of all.

Review by Kate Gaul

Image: supplied