Brisbane Festival review: Fangirls at Billie Brown Theatre, West End

Playwright, musician and actor Yve Blake is obsessed with teenage girls. So much so, that she’s created a musical about them — and it’s absolutely brilliant.

Fangirls received a standing ovation on opening night. Picture: Stephen Henry

PLAYWRIGHT, musician and actor Yve Blake is obsessed with teenage girls.

So much so, that she’s created a musical about them — and it’s absolutely brilliant.

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Developed by Queensland Theatre, Fangirls, which had its world premiere as a part of Brisbane Festival last night, explores perhaps the most powerful but misunderstood demographic in society in a way that is tender, hilarious and painfully relatable.

The plot follows 14-year-old Edna, a scholarship student and fan fiction writer who is obsessed with Harry — the biggest pop star in the world and frontman for boyband True Connection.

Fangirls writer and star Yve Blake. Picture: Stephen Henry

Edna believes Harry’s chart-topping lyrics such as ‘I like your fingertips/I like your soul/I see your messy hair and I go woah’ were written just for her, and that she and him are destined to be together — he just doesn’t know it yet.

So, she hatches a plan to make him notice her among the crowd of screaming teenage girls when his band tours in Brisbane — where the dark side of fandom rears its head.

Fangirls is clever, uncomfortable at times and laugh-out-loud funny. Blake and the rest of the cast are brilliant, and perfectly encapsulate the awkwardness of early adolescence — the feeling that no one understands you, the feeling of discomfort in your own skin.

Fangirls received a standing ovation on opening night. Picture: Stephen Henry

Blake also explores the double standard that teenage girls face when it comes to fandom — why is it okay for boys and men to scream at the TV when a football match is on, but girls who scream at people on stage at a concert are “crazy”?

When Fangirls was over, two things happened — the audience gave a standing ovation, and I wanted to give the 14-year-old version of myself a big hug.

Do yourself a favour, and please see this show.

Edna is obsessed with True Connection frontman Harry. Picture: Stephen Henry

Queensland Theatre, Billie Brown Theatre, West End until October 5.

Our rating: 5/5