What I liked
Shayna and Jonathan were great together. Just a really great show!
What I didn't like
Nothing!
My overall impression
On the surface this show is hilarious and fun, laughing at and with Micki along with Dimitri while we cover her short yet full career through Hollywood’s Golden Age.
But what Shayna does as a writer and performer is gives us something more and very subtle; she references sex-based power dynamics, control, and exploitation; eating disorders; substance abuse; the obsession to be accepted and loved used as leverage – we are not only looking at how dark Hollywood was for women, but we’re forced to ask ourselves, “Is it any better for women now?” and I think this is where the show really hits if you can catch it – it’s probably worse now because we should know better. Micki isn’t a hero – but an unfortunate inevitable promise once you get a taste of fame you want more only to get used up and your only audience is eventually someone who thinks getting proposed to at Red Lobster is the biggest event of their life.
Ultimately it’s sad, heavy, and heartbreaking. We end up using Micki the same everyone else, reliving her highs and once she stops performing for us – we’re done with her – and she is taken away – away from view – until the next rec hour and the drugs wear off.
I must also applaud Jenna Covarrubias’s directing, which is one of two shows she is directing at the festival, together her Shayna created a show that can be powerful if you let it – but entertaining if you’re just wanting it to be that.
