"Grit, Glitter & Gaslight" is far more than a jukebox of hits from Bowie, Kate Bush and Adele. It is a raw, funny, and deeply moving portrait of a performer who has finally reclaimed her own story. McGuinness' show is running at the Edinburgh Fringe's Gilded Balloon Teviot - Billiard Room until the end of August.
The songs are only half the story. "Grit, Glitter & Gaslight" is a truly outstanding piece of theatre, a sparkling delight for all the senses.
Part concert, part memoir, and part confession, it chronicles the ebbs and flows of Sarah’s fascinating life while celebrating the power of persistence.
A clever mock-documentary framing at the opening immediately creates the feeling that the audience is being let in on a secret; that what follows is being shared in quiet confidence. It is a highly effective device for a show that moves constantly between the public performer and the challenging private life behind that performance.
Standout performances of tracks by Bowie, Kate Bush, and Adele do more than provide musical interludes; they are part of the narrative. But it is the self-penned material, appearing at key moments in the story, that makes the heart race.
McGuinness is a gifted storyteller, but she shines brightest when she abandons the script altogether to deliver her ad-libs. Those moments make the performance feel genuinely alive, as no two nights could ever be quite the same.
Yet the laughter is balanced by quieter, more affecting passages as she relates the darker parts of her story. The contrast is one of the show's greatest strengths: the glittering performer on stage gradually reveals the grit required to get there.
The songs build towards “Strong”, a powerful ballad, with each track helping to uncover a life that, but for the gaslighting, jealousy and stolen opportunities, might have taken a very different course.
And that makes watching the show today all the more poignant. It’s the chance to witness firsthand what could have been. What should have been. This intimate opportunity to watch it all unfold before your very eyes is one to grasp with both hands.
By the time the show ends, you have learned one thing for sure: the stars that burn the brightest can never truly be extinguished.
The show is running at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival until the end of August.
Comments