Adelaide Fringe Review: Awkward Activists
Words by Your Local Hok
Show content warning: domestic abuse & violence
Millicent Saare and Joshie Belle are your Awkward Activists, campaigning for various social environmental causes in an awkward, contentious, and contradictory manner.
Through the medium of cabaret, Millicent and Joshie critically evaluate social movements which include climate change, consumption, feminism, LGBTIQ+ rights, and cancel culture.
The assumptions of activism are challenged throughout the show, and whilst you are made to think about your own perceptions and experiences, Millicent and Joshie’s breath-taking vocals during the performance will leave you applauding for more and more. We knew it was going to be good, but not this damn good.
Using instruments such as the keyboard, ukulele, and clapper, Awkward Activists interchanges between powerful ballads and slower, deeper storytelling through song. The more touchy and lived-experience aspects are performed more in-depth, in contrast with the other songs which are performed more so in a sassier, up-lifting and rap battle-esque way between Millicent and Joshie.
Millicent and Joshie’s awkwardness shines when they’re putting the straps back on their overalls in a totally gracious fashion (not) after revealing their statement t-shirts, whilst they’re moving the microphone around the stage, and when they are putting their instruments down.
Transcending the surface level of the movements in question during the show, they discuss the nuances, challenges, and triumphs of each, such as the reclaiming of slurs and derogatory terms which were/are used against marginalised groups and the marginalisation which occurs within marginalised groups.
Both Millicent and Joshie acknowledge their white privilege during the show, which adds to their understanding and the limitations of how representative their activism can possibly be. This yields significance when they’re both discussing issues regarding people of colour.
Awkward Activists is certainly confronting for those who directly empathise with some of the topics of which are discussed, and you are more than welcome to step out at any point of the show if it is too much for you, especially when the topic of domestic abuse and violence is raised. We were especially empathetic to one of the songs performed which hit us right in the feels regarding our lived experience.
Furthermore, it’s a learning experience for those who do not experience marginalisation, as well as those in minority groups.
The tension is real between Millicent and Joshie throughout Awkward Activists, but it’s all in the name of love, understanding, and compassion. It will move you, influence your views, and make you want to become an imperfectly perfect activist.
Rating: ★★★★★
Show details: Awkward Activists