Once upon a time, two princesses decided to leave LA and cross the ocean to visit a fairy tale land where dreams come true — Scotland.
With a mixture of improv, Julie Andrews-style narration and copious tequila shots, Princess Party is a fun and frisky hot mess.
There’s one simple way to get your audience on side before the show even starts: props. Upon entering the room for Princess Party, you will be handed a party hat and a mini torch. Lauren Howard Hayes and Hannah Pilkes’ first Fringe show is all about creating an atmosphere. Once everyone’s wearing those cone hats it really does feel like you’re at a kids birthday party — or at least, one with a lot of drunk adults.
Hayes and Pilkes take us through the many stages of throwing an elaborate, Beverly Hills children’s party, taking on such roles as professional caterers, wine moms and weirdly sexual toddlers in tiaras. The central figures are the young women hired to be the entertainment. Sloane has just gone through a breakup, and Ansley is so new to the business that she thinks Alice in Wonderland is a princess story. We are the children they were hired to amuse, but, as they go through the motions of Disney roleplay, they begin to wonder if fairy tales really are so magical after all.
With a mixture of improv, Julie Andrews-style narration and copious tequila shots, Princess Party is a fun and frisky hot mess. Sloane and Ansley could be any millennial women who have grown up with fairy tales and finally arrived at a point in their lives where they realise they’ve been hoodwinked. It may seem cynical, but reaching this conclusion is liberating for the princesses, and highly entertaining for the audience.
This is a sketch show for anyone who thinks Disney films are problematic but can't stop watching them. High points include; the first altercation with the police (“Blue Lives Matter, right?”), the wine moms not letting their kids steal focus, and a summary of Beauty and the Beast questioning why all the French villagers have American accents. Would I hire these princesses to entertain my hypothetical children? No. Am I reconsidering even having children? Yes. Take from that what you will.
