Britney Spears: The Cabaret

Overview

Whether you hated or loved her as an eight-year old, or you’re completely impartial towards her (like you should be in 2012), there’s no denying Britney Spears’ story is one of the great disappointments and tragedies of our generation. She came from innocent beginnings in Kentucky, to being a full-blown mental patient with two children to a guy who now stars on a weight loss show on Australian television. It really can’t get much worse than that, or can it?

Here to satirise a quite bleak tale are Dean Bryant and Mathew Frank, who have carefully crafted a cabaret performance around the life and times of the electro-pop nightmare that Britney has become. It is a piss-take at times, but has surprisingly real and honest undertones that actually evoke care within for someone that really was so naive, or ‘Overprotected’.

She gave us grammatically incorrect hits like ‘I’m A Slave 4 U’ and ‘If U Seek Amy’ (say it out loud...), as well as heart wrenching ballads with deep undertones such as ‘Gimme More’ and ‘Womanizer’, but once these songs are stripped back to just piano and lyrics, that’s when their true meaning become apparent – that is, that Britney is a genius. If you want to reminisce and laugh at your favourite teen idol, I insist that you see Britney Spears: The Cabaret. You might even shed a tear along the way.