Beth Becomes Her 

To reach Bethany Black’s show the audience first had to make their way through a network of darkened caves in order to avoid the flooding that had been brought on by the “light showers” we have recently had to endure.  Black herself stood at the entrance to her venue thanking everyone for showing up at such a late hour and in such inclement weather.  And it proved important that Black made such a connection with her audience as her work is deeply personal.

Bethany Black is a male to female transsexual.  She now describes herself as 5’10” of lesbian, the result of Marilyn Manson breeding with Harry Potter.  And if you think that the beginning to a show can’t be any more unique than that, well wait until she hits you with the suicide attempts.  In any other hands this could have killed off the show before it had properly begun, but Black is adept at lighting up the darkness of her situation. 

Black then describes to us, in detail at points, the journey between genders.  It’s a brave tale and one which I found interesting and heart-warming.  At times empathy for Black’s situation took over from the laughter, but there was still more than enough humour sprinkled throughout.  This show proves that it is possible to have comedy that’s meaningful, that can explore serious subjects without making people uncomfortable.  Black has crafted a life-affirming show for this year’s Fringe and all credit to her for doing so.

***

Di

Fringe Programme Page No

P 33

Company

Bethany Black

Venue Name and Number

Baby Belly V 88

Dates and Times

31 July to 24 August (not 11 ) 23.05 to 00.05

Comedy 2008

Music 2008

Others 2008

Theatre 2008

Musicals 2008

press at one4review.co.uk