Candy Bowers: Who’s that Chik

Within thirty seconds of being on stage Candy Bowers had the audience eating out of the palm of her hand.

MELBOURNE FRINGE 2009??

The Arts Centre, Fairfax Studio
?FULL TILT at the Arts Centre?
Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Within thirty seconds of being on stage Candy Bowers had the audience eating out of the palm of her hand. ??

Candy Bowers: Who’s That Chik is her story of growing up as the only brown girl in dance classes, then at drama school told, through hip hop theatre.

Candy takes her audience through her ancestry, childhood and education. And it really is her audience because she commands your attention with a heady mix of self-depreciating comedy and white-hot rage. Although the theatre was about half-full, by the end of the first hip hop number Candy had the audience sounding like a full house.

Candy breaks a lot of rules in this show and I bloody well loved it. She’s raw, passionate and in your face. The narrative isn’t as strong as it could be but it doesn’t really matter because what was there was enough to provide a structure for Candy to entertain and challenge her audience. She is uncomfortably honest about extent of the racism in our entertainment industry and damn funny while doing it.

Who’s That Chik? isn’t without its flaws. Candy does come across as self-congratulatory at times and there are moments of unnecessary sentimentality. However, these moments pale in comparison to Candy’s general performance skill. This is an extremely entertaining show that takes you through the full spectrum of emotion. I want to see it again.

Season Closed