Live Performance Review - A FINE LINE
Image courtesy of The Maybe Pile.
Lily Hensby and Lottee Beckett have brought Harry Styles all the way from England to Trades Hall for an exclusive performance! Whip out your pink feather boas and cowboy hats, this Melbourne Fringe show will rock your socks off!
Doors open and I am handed a hand-drawn sign that reads “(call me) daddy?”. A bold sign fit for a bold person! I take it and sit down on a bench in the Old Council Chambers of Trades Hall. I am then handed a Squishmallow to keep me company and given some top-secret instructions on what to do with it at the right moment in the show. And no, I am not going to reveal those instructions to you!
Disclaimer, I am not a Harry Styles fan and may never understand the intricacies of ‘Watermelon Sugar’. In fact, I am a bit terrified of Harry Styles fans. My main beef with Harry Styles is how he named a song ‘Music for A Sushi Restaurant’ that is played in every store except sushi restaurants. But here I was, getting mentally prepared for my first Harry Styles concert, Squishmallow and “daddy” sign in hand. And you bet I was cheering along with the rest of the crowd!
A Fine Line is part Harry Styles concert, and part fangirl tragedy. Lola (Lily Hensby) has fallen head over heels with her favourite pop star, and soulmate, Harry Styles (Lottee Beckett). Their fate manifested in a notebook 333 times, it’s destiny, at least it is according to the TikTok witches! Lola, desperate to escape her “boring” Brunswick sharehouse life, role-plays fantasies with Harry in her head. But even in her fantasies, Lola’s relationship with Harry is dysfunctional. Lola is called “crazy” in a British accent by her own hallucination.
In an age where Swiftposium 2024 will be hosted by Melbourne University days before Tay Tay takes over the MCG for the Eras Tour, A Fine Line feels like a well-timed Shakespearean tragedy about the social phenomenon of fan culture. With major record labels crafting the public personas of pop stars, it’s no wonder fans are succumbing to limerence under these parasocial relationships.
Duo Hensby and Beckett have undeniable charisma on stage, Beckett in particular with that suave English accent. There is something I find incredibly charming about friends being silly on a stage together. Hensby and Beckett bring the silly factor but balance it with seriousness at the right moments. I’m excited to see what future projects these two are in!
Although A Fine Line is still a work in progress, I am intrigued to see how this show evolves. With endless amounts of potential source material, Hensby and Beckett’s choice to package the show in a conservative 60-minute time slot meant that it maintained high energy from beginning to end. One element of the show I particularly enjoyed was the lighting design during the concert scenes that simulated a concert atmosphere. Although I knew as an audience member where I was during this scene, in other scenes, I wasn’t so sure of the setting. I’d also like to see further exploration of the impact of social media on Lola’s psyche… I want to know what weird things Lola and Styles are texting each other on Instagram.
This dramedy is funny, thought-provoking, and a touch crazy. A Fine Line is the perfect 60-minute package of fun that Harry Styles fans and haters alike will enjoy.
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A Fine Line showed as part of the 2023 Melbourne Fringe Festival. For more info, click here.
Keep up to date with future performances of A Fine Line at themaybepile.com.au and on Instagram @themaybepile.com.au , and Hensby and Beckett at @hensbyandbeckett.