Reliving the dreams of your former self
Dear Diary
Adelaide Fringe Theatre review
At Holden Street Theatres until March 9, 2025
Kay Proudlove’s winning glint of eye as she takes us back through an Australian millennial’s life is convincing from the start. She can turn a joke on a dime, and sing a witty song and play guitar with relish. In real life Kay is an indie folk singer and it shows in her point-to-point delivery and neat twists of style.
Her youngster diary is a star of the show, sitting on a plinth, with some entries flashed up on a screen, including endless images of her pubescent obsession, Elijah Wood, looking smoky and brooding and sexy.
There is no subtext here, just a lot of memories recalled with a lot of zest and wit, good enough to make a diverting night out.
There is a more theatrical and structural dimension too, as she returns to her Wollongong family home to clear out her bedroom and its memories. Paraphenalia and three long racks of dresses evoke memories and events she can bring colourfully to life.
Kay is her own main character, but it is when she turns to guitar and her original songs that her talents take her well beyond the stand-up schtick and into thumpingly good entertainment.