'Bite Me But Smile' is the brainchild of Australian trained opera singer Elizabeth Shearer. After performing at UK fringe festivals, Elizabeth returned to Australia to unleash her alter ego Miss Zella Shear.
Zella is looking for love and approval in all the wrong places. But in this world of influencers and hashtags (#Confused), a girl’s got to make the best of what is available and if that means settling for social media ‘likes’ or forming a deep and personal bond with her vibrator, well hey, it’s better than nothing.
Miss Zella is 28 years old, single, volatile, ambitious and a loveable narcissist who isn’t going to settle for mediocrity. She wants to do it all – opera, jazz, pop, burlesque – and in this 50 minute show, she delves into her bag of absurdist cabaret tricks to explore love, lust, insecurity and loneliness in a world where an Instagram ‘like’ is as good as a wolf whistle.
Audience participation and appreciation is compulsory as she fishes for compliments, encourages applause, brings unsuspecting audience members on to the stage and looks for potential dates and mates among the crowd.
Supported by a judgemental and talkative kebab named Donna, Zella unpacks our obsession with social media by posing questions like "Are you really happy or is that just your selfie smiling?"
Her casual banter and wacky onstage antics are interspersed with well-known torch songs of love and loss. Cabaret standards like Marilyn Monroe’s 'Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend', and Bertolt Brecht’s 'Surabaya Johnny' both get an outing and are delivered with impeccable style – the latter in perfect German. But just when you’re getting comfortable she throws down a couple of arias in between swilling beer and eating Vegemite toast. In this unhinged show you simply do not know what is coming next.
The show staggers from one chaotic moment to the next – taking the audience by surprise. Zella is also aided by her charming looks. She appears to be the modest ‘girl next door’ until she strips down to a corset and sparkly shorts. But that is not the end of her alluring and seductive stage show. To find out what happens next – you’ll have to see it for yourself.
Frankly, a show this good should be in a larger venue, but the Graffiti Room made for a very intimate environment and Miss Zella worked it like a true professional.
★★★★☆
