[Cabaret • Comedy.           Queensland • SA Premiere] 

Dom Polski Dwa at Dom Polski, Mon 4 Mar, 2024.

Swoon is a fun, somewhat chaotic cabaret offering which showcases Sophie Bannister’s abundant skills as a songwriter, singer, comedy writer and musician. Consisting of a series of skits the show is bursting with myriad ideas and cultural/pop references. Some work better than others, but they are all, at very least, amusing.

The performance opens with a nod to swooning ladies of old as Bannister languishes across a chaise lounge and then semi-faints as she arises. Soon she is up though and creating musical backing tracks using a loop machine and her violin. Once a couple of technical issues are sorted we hear the first of a number of witty songs.

The next item is a parody of a Hollywood diva from the 1930’s (think Mae West maybe). This section relies on an audience member reading out the male’s lines from a provided script, tonight done in a rather deadpan fashion while Sophie hams it up reading the female’s lines. You get the impression Sophie has watched a lot of old movies and TV shows and she loves them, but sees through their stereotyping manipulations as well.

Sophie’s enthusiastic and easy stage presence, her clowning antics and uninhibited dance moves are easy to relate to. When she launches into a Taylor Swift-inspired confessional song about the pitfalls of dating apps the audience laughter indicates that she has put her finger on a few issues even while making fun of it all.

Later items range across self esteem, stolen identity and getting medical issues taken seriously by doctors. These skits feature a puppet and other props. Tonight, being opening night, the transitions from one skit to another are not always seamless, with cords especially getting in the way. Not all the skits easily link to the concept of swooning but there are laughs to be had in all of them.

Sophie’s talent and creativity is centre stage, and this is just the sort of venture that helps make our Fringe dynamic.

So take a punt and go see this new developing talent that is Sophie Bannister.