This review was originally written for The Reviews Hub: http://www.thereviewshub.com
Christopher Wilson tells us that he has always dreamed of releasing his inner diva, but the Canadian writer/performer does not follow up with a Whitney or a Madonna. Instead, we get a story about a mini diva, a 10-year-old black girl, always referred to as “Kidlet”, who lands on his doorstep and becomes his foster daughter.
Kidlet moves in, Wilson’s husband moves out to start a relationship with a woman and their kittens (completely incidental to the story) stay on. The girl is the neglected child of drug-abusing parents. Inevitably, she brings baggage with her, but she has spirit and a positive outlook. Wilson takes us through parenting problems in the years that follow – hair styling, skin care, menstruation, etc – as Kidlet moves from childhood through adolescence.
Directed by Ryan Kelly, the show consists of Wilson telling us about incidents in his life with Kidlet and performing songs, accompanied by Quinton Naughton on piano. However, the incidents are no more than mildly amusing and neither the tunes nor the lyrics of the songs are particularly memorable. It all becomes a bit of a drag and what is really needed is for Wilson to spice things up with the other sort of drag, by doing a turn as one of his beloved divas.
Packaged with more flair and wit, this bitter-sweet story could have become both heartwarming and heartbreaking, but, as it is, a 45-minute bundle of unremarkable anecdotes and mediocre songs does not make much of a show and Wilson’s amiability is the strongest factor going for it.
Performance date: 12 August 2016
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