The Girl Who Forgot to Sing Badly

Last week I had the pleasure of seeing Theatre Lovett’s production of The Girl Who Forgot To Sing Badly. Having been given a ticket as part of the Sydney Opera House’s artist development program, I attended the 12:45pm performance in The Studio.

In a word, absolutely brilliant! Wait, that’s two words. The show was worth my trip down from Newcastle, and I can highly recommend it to anyone wanting to experience an inspiring one-man performance that has polish, excitement, and a huge amount of enthusiasm.

Written by Tasmanian-based writer Finegan Kruckemeyer, the show features Louis Lovett in a solo performance. Solo perhaps, yet technically adept at playing multiple characters with ease. It was a delight watching Lovett switch back and forth seamlessly between roles, from a heroic mouse to a young girl to the villainous villain.

The story follows a young girl – Peggy O’Hegarty – who is a packer. She and her parents pack things into boxes. Fruit, clothes, foxes, chickens – anything that needs packing, they can do it. Living a contented life in a city of contented people, one day something changes. Peggy wakes up and finds everyone else gone. The city is hers, and her adventure begins. After all, what would YOU do if you were a young person, when suddenly all the rules disappeared?

Kruckemeyer and Lovett handle this quandry with enthusiasm, sensitivity, and a good dose of reality. Quickly Peggy’s fun wears off, and she’s met with the uncertainties of childhood – where are her parents? Where are the people? What should she do next? These questions push the narrative arc forward into untamed territory. There are moments of fear, wonder, excitement, and sadness.

Lovett’s style as a performer is highly polished. After some 350 performances of this production, his finely tuned instinct for the audience’s journey is a delight to behold. As an actor watching the performance, I was struck numerous times by his mastery of the material he was working with.

My criticism comes from the overuse of music and sound effects within the play. While I’m unable to tell if this is a theme throughout other work from Theatre Lovett, I felt at times that there was an over emphasis on recorded music, sounds, and effects. As the nature of the show is fairly minimalistic, I would have enjoyed this being stripped back further. While some sound effects and music were needed, I felt a more sparing use of them would have added to the mystery and mystique that is theatre. Overall however, this is a very small criticism for such a brilliant production.

The Girl who Forgot to Sing Badly