Monster is a one person transgender man show. From start to finish Florian Wild takes us on a cabaret journey of alternative pop songs accompanied by Oliver Ayres on piano with each song flowing between stories from Florian’s life. Without giving away too many spoilers, this is Florian’s trans journey that began in a Catholic home while attending an all girls Catholic school through to today as a high school teacher in Melbourne. The vocals are fantastic and we are privileged to hear such amazing pipes. Married with a cheeky, witty and leaning on debaucherous stage presence this story is heartfelt, funny and raw. Florian does not hold back when unpacking the anti-trans rhetoric consuming the far right of today. Yet while there is despair there, you would not know with the respect they give to trying to understand those who are causing so much hurt to the LGBTIQ+ community right now. I really admired Florian as a storytelling. Clearly there was complexity in coming to terms with becoming who they are today and you can tell the journey was not easy. But Florian has done the work and this show is not therapy. In fact they summed it up best when they said “I don’t want to put my trauma on display to make people listen.” And they certainly didn’t have to. The storytelling, the empathy, humour, honesty and cabaret had everyone sitting up and listening.