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I might not be in the target audience for Amity's show, FORTIFIED, but her message for women is universal - through life, love, and loss, you can find a strength inside of yourself that you never knew you had.
I wrote a review for Amity's show, 39 Forever, at the 2018 Adelaide Fringe. Last years show was fun, playful and inspiring.
For 2019, FORTIFIED is raw, vulnerable and powerful.
The show opens with a fairytale. A Princess, and Prince and Happily Ever After - or so the Princess thought.
With her self-written songs and personal experiences, Amity walks us through her life, and inevitably how she's changed since being the hopeful young 19-year-old who fell in love for the very first time.
Now, a divorced performer and mother of two (and these labels don't fully encapsulate her), Amity sheds insight into Tinder (something I found out the bulk of married women are extremely intrigued about Haha), and what it's like to be dating again (along with the extensive pre-date routine of showering, shaving, tanning) and how sometimes if you want to bang the hot gym-guy... you make the effort to go to Kmart and buy new sheets because your Bondi Sands has rubbed off onto your bed at home... and what else is a girl to do?
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| PC: Alice Healy Photography |
On top of the amazing performances and storyline, there is noticeable effort and time behind the details of the show. From the on-stage banter between Amity and her Musical Director, Jamie Burgess, to the way Amity interacts with the audience - flawless would be a good description.
I read a review by The Advertiser that tore the performance to shreds by saying Amity's 'textbook relatable stories seem to add in an air of cheesiness'. I think the way the reviewer minimised the messages of the show to insist that Amity is pandering to the 'middle-aged' demographic is equal parts out-of-touch and insulting. Firstly, the media is very good at telling us that 50% of the population is some niche demographic that holds no weight e.g. when was the last time you heard about Menopause in the media? Seriously we're pretty much all going to go through it and NO-ONE TALKS ABOUT IT.
Secondly, as someone who has first-hand witnessed a family's marriage breakdown that's been broiled in domestic violence and financial abuse, the performance struck a chord with me personally, as a 24-year-old, single woman. So yeah, fuck anyone who wants to push down women when they're publicly talking about doing things that society at every step tells them not to do.
Anyone who's experienced a marriage dissolution would agree it's a warzone no matter the circumstances and Amity's show gives the audience a chance to project their own sadness and hurt through her music that can provide emotional output and build confidence to those who need it the most.
39 Forever had us leaving the show after dancing in our seats. FORTIFIED had the audience leaving the show with something more powerful; the insight and comfort in knowing you're not alone when you need to stand up for yourself and demand to be treated better when following your heart.
4.5 out of 5 stars
Category: Cabaret/Music