I too have a predilection for nuns, so I was always going to like Scout Boxall’s God’s
Favourite. This show surpassed all my wildest (or should I say devout-est dreams) and was
really my kind of comedy.
Ironically, in a show that denounces godliness and celebrates peaceful mediocrity, I really
felt like I was part of something bigger – in my hard wooden chair surrounded by the State
Library’s collection of books and in the hands of Boxall, I felt safe, taken care of.
Boxall’s language strikes a balance between the prosaic and Melbourne-provincial. Moving
from beautifully written and rehearsed, delivered with committed emotion, to self-aware
teasing and off-the-cuff banter with the audience.
Boxall is totally themselves – God’s Favourite was as nerdy as it was brilliant. Not afraid to
be weirdly specific they take us with them jumping between Joan of Arc’s burning, to that
one guy who tried to outrun Cathy Freeman at Scienceworks in Canberra, or the time they
hooked up with a medieval lad at Larp camp (long story).
There is nothing lazy about this show. Boxall leaves no stone unturned, imbuing every
feature of classic comedy with thoughtful craft. ‘Flashbacks’ are a favourite comedy tool:
Boxall takes this one further, all the way back to 1171 AD for some revisionist feminist
histories, to be specific.
The religious theme of the show is pulled in every direction, and included in every detail from
their costume (which they add to piece by piece until they stand before us in a glorious
woolly early modern nun habit), to their word play, metaphor, and imagery, cleverly weaving
together themes of religiosity and mental illness, one century’s saint is another’s psycho.
The performance is self-conscious about being one of those fringe comedies, leftist queer,
what an Arts Australia grant would term ‘marginalised’. Fluent in the tongue of our times
Boxall opens with a series of quips about being dairy free, non-binary, and psycho (in that
order). But what follows, far from making fun of ‘lefties’ and their woes, is a testament to why
fringe is so powerful, why we need ‘those fringe comedies’. Comedy and storytelling is an
opportunity for someone to tell you what it is like to be them, whether that be vivid
descriptions of larping (live action role play!), part of their family, or inside their brain. Boxall
brings us to all these places and more with unmatched skill.

5 stars

Lilah Shapiro