THEATRE REVIEW: "Much Stuff" is a delightful story of queer love
So you’re in love with your best friend. She’s everything and nothing and you’re running out of breath and reasons not to tell them and she’s magic and she knows where to bury you and you’ve always wanted to kiss them but you’re terrified and now she’s standing on the edge of a cliff and you wish she’d just come down to you.
If you’ve ever found yourself in a run-on sentence of nervous energy, this show is for you.
Much Stuff is a delightful and invigorating story of queer love and the ride-or-die fusion of female friendship. Written by Lily Boss-Bailey and directed by Eliza Smith. The queer and neurodiverse creators of the show honoured the Whadjuk Noongar owners of the land and encouraged viewers to vote yes in the voice to parliament. They highlighted the need for voice and truth-telling. The whirlwind storyline of Much Stuff draws upon the lived experience of neurodiversity with a smart interplay of lights and sound design which dial up the intensity for viewers.
Actors Gabrielle Wilson and Morgan Dukes capture the run-on sentence of female friendship with lock-step joint monologues and playful embodied movement. Their chemistry swells as they finish each others’ sentences and sweep you up in their feelings. The acting is visceral and embodied, calling viewers into their own physical experience of nervousness and butterflies.
The heartfelt story captures the highs, lows and nervous energy of having a crush, while celebrating the love between the two friends that appears as immovable as the physical cliff built in the room. With masterful light design and playful sound engineering, the show brings your senses alive… perhaps reminding you of the last time you fell in love.
I had the pleasure of seeing the show with my darling bisexual friend, and it had us in fits of laughter and holding our breath.
If you’ve ever been unable to find the words for how you feel or what you want, the story will capture your heart. If you know the joys of queer friendship and the lows of a day of derealisation, you will feel seen and heard.
Much Stuff is showing at the Blue Room Theatre in Northbridge until October 28th. Get your tickets here!
Content warnings for the show include coarse language, adult themes including drugs, alcohol, sexual references, references to sexual assault, themes surrounding mental health, including suicide. We encourage you to consider your own story with gentleness and care as you explore artistic expressions of these themes.
Thank you to the lovely creative team who allowed us to review their show.
