Review by Julia Chamberlain

On paper, this show sounds like something to freeze the marrow, a 15-year-old rapper from Tunbridge Wells offering a show. But of course, like Marcel Lucont isn’t even French, Jennie Benton Smith isn’t even 15 – she’s an excellent character construction from Susan Harrison, who has polished awkwardness to perfection.

If Enid Blyton’s Noddy were ever to take up rap, this is what he’d look and sound like; slight, wide-eyed, scrubbed and gleaming with naivety and cut-glass diction that managed to stay this side of irritating. It was the sort of voice to put you in mind of ancient Listen With Mother episodes, church parade and the W.I., with the odd salty mo’fo thrown in to make you sit up and take notice.

Her extraordinary performance skills extended to slack-jointed, marionette-like movements, beautifully controlled, never still, with an occasional perfectly executed balletic spin thrown in for good measure. In the way a child can dominate a bunch of adults, ‘Benton Smith’ exerted an innocent, enthusiastic authority over her audience. For me there was a bit too much enforced call and response, making people part of the show, but it fits with the childlike approach of the character, and this audience seemed very up for it.

I’d have to hope that nobody goes to this for the spoken word element or the rap content (although really not my specialist subject) because, as might be expected from an intellectually precocious but emotionally immature teen from the Home Counties, it wasn’t strong, but I think it’s also not the point. The point was watching the bruising lack of self-awareness around her piteous hype man Auburn Joe, played with silent film acting delicacy by Dylan Kennedy, that was actually captivating.

Her instant of seeing ourselves as others see us was a moment of heartbreak, but not milked. This was a tiny teen-romantic drama, played for laughs but without mockery. It was a charming, sweet piece, which I hope finds its audience.

Review date: 7 Aug 2015
Reviewed by: Julia Chamberlain
Reviewed at: Underbelly Bristo Square