2013 Melbourne Fringe—EDGE!
Posted on 07 October 2013
Stella Wilkenson was an eight year old YouTube Viral sensation. With that success she had more attention than an eight year old can handle, much less her mother. Now eleven, she is being “productised” in order to attract money.
This is the set up for the very funny EDGE!. Isabel Angus plays the hyper-active and narcissitic Stella. Rachel Davis plays the put upon cousin who is holding things together while Stella’s mother is in LA trying to sell her daughter to Hollywood.
The portrayal of Stella is pitch perfect. No matter how horrible and shallow this character can be, the audience develops a growing sense of her vulnerability. This is a child having her childhood stolen from her. Davis does an excellent job of subtly supporting the story arc and bringing on a bang ending. Overall the show is worthy of finding itself in the likes of an Australian Saturday Night Live.
Australians find the absurdity of character and story in EDGE! uproarious. Understandably so. The culture for this sort of child abuse arises from a country that provides no safety net for its citizens and fetishises status. As such everyone is terrified of losing their position in society and are willing to sell their humanity in order to gain a little security. The US bears little resemblence to its media portrayals.
EDGE! did a nice job of dramatising this conundrum and driving home the point that we aren’t immune to this desperate need for validation. The laughs were big and genuine, I trust the brain cells were stimulated as well. Angus and Davis are a superb team.
Isabel Angus and Rachel Davis website: Grisabel Comedy
Peace and kindness,
Katherine
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