Loretta Maine is the comic creation of British comedian Pippa Evans. She’s a feisty, manic Texan with a penchant for a tipple or six. After touring her musical hit Bipolar, collecting few restraining orders along the way, she’s back this Edinburgh with a fresh look.
This show is not for the faint of heart when it comes to audience participation.
Loretta is a new woman. Gone is the drinking; the mood swings, the manic and dangerous behaviour. No, Maine is set for the big time; she’s going to be a star and she’s going to do it through the medium of pop. And that means leaving the white wine-induced episodes that end up with waking up in a dumpster in the past. Now she is pretty in pink. The growling and yelling is in the past, replaced with sweet and upbeat fun-for-the-whole-family pop. Like all good pop-stars Maine has been doing some charity work; though there’s something a little dubious about her choice of caus
But the past is a difficult beast to keep locked in the cupboard forever. We watch as the real Maine claws her way through the cracks of this pop paint-job. It’s like witnessing a fantastic train-wreck as the old Loretta that we love and are terrified of, emerges from the darkness.
The highly strung Maine gives the crowd a thorough going over. This show is not for the faint of heart when it comes to audience participation. Maine delivers lung-busting number after number with her sullen backing band doing her bidding. Slowly the layers are stripped away and the drunken, angry and loud Maine is in full swing. As she struts and stumbles about the stage Loretta confesses how hard it is to live up to the standards of the pop industry. As Maine reinvents some of the classic Pop tropes with the special Maine touch many laughs abound. This is a delightful deconstruction of the ludicrousness of the pop world.
A feisty, charged character comedy packing plenty of cheek and darkly witty ballads that raise the roof.
