Presented by The X Collective at PIP Theatre in Milton, Psycho Beach Party is camp, crass, and chaotic in all the best ways.
Set over one summer in Malibu Beach, the play follows sixteen-year-old Chicklet Forrest (Bailey Dunnage in his drag persona Aubrey Haive) as she enjoys the beach with her girlfriends Berdine (Ella Humphreys) and Marvel Ann (Rachel Jordan). Berdine is deep in her philosophy reading list, and Marvel Ann is on the hunt for a man. She sets her sights on pre-med drop-out Starcat (Connor Scoble) and his accompanying beach bum friends Kanaka (Justin Ryan), Yo Yo (Daniel Kirby) and Provoloney (Hayden Parsons). Chicklet wants to learn to surf, but the boys laugh at her and her protective, dramatic mother (played with brilliant melodrama by Izabela Wasilewska) won’t allow it. Also at the beach for the summer is incognito movie star Bettina Barnes (Lisa Hickey), who recruits the boys and Berdine to help her develop a new creative project.
Written by American actor, writer, and drag queen Charles Busch, Psycho Beach Party premiered off-Broadway in 1987 with Busch playing the role of Chicklet. He also wrote the screenplay when the play was adapted to film in 2000.
Parodying 1960s beach party films (the play was originally titled Gidget Goes Psychotic, but changed due to copyright concerns) and 80s psychological thrillers, the wholesome veneer of the play’s 60s beach setting and outdated teen slang contrasts deliciously with its subversiveness and vulgarity. Chicklet herself is modest and naive, but when she sees red, she becomes the sultry Ann Bowman, bent on world domination. Chicklet’s multiple personalities, of which she has no memory, shift the play’s tension forward.
Directed by Wayne McPhee with assistant direction by Natasha McDonald, The X Collective’s Psycho Beach Party features an excellent ensemble cast with the superstar power of Bailey Dunnage / Aubrey Haive at its centre. The whole play hinges on great characterisations and comedic timing and the cast have this in spades, plus the magnetic dynamism of Dunnage / Aubrey Haive as Chicklet and her alter egos. The cast delivered committed characters and maintained affected accents and vocal fry throughout, which often added to the comedy.
Set design by Brigette Thamm included surfboards, palm trees and a couple of benches that were used for many purposes throughout the show. Beach balls were buffeted into the audience and some of the front rows were drawn into the limbo line. Costuming was excellent, adding to the sense of place and time as well as contributing to the audience’s understanding of each character. Changing footage of the beach and the ocean was projected onto the back wall of the theatre to round out the set, and lighting design by Charlie Graham made a clear switch between Chicklet’s personalities as well as shifts in scene location and time.
Psycho Beach Party is a larger-than-life parody but it still contains moments of genuine, intense emotion, like Yo Yo’s declaration about a future in New York, and Mrs Forrest and Chicklet’s mother-daughter dynamic.
Psycho Beach Party has all the essentials: a surfing montage, a limbo competition, a big luau with a talent show, and, like any good film of its genre, it finishes with a humorous “where are they now?” segment. Packed with parody, physical comedy, and a party atmosphere, Psycho Beach Party is wonderfully light-hearted and absurd, and a truly entertaining night out.
Psycho Beach Party will be performed at PIP Theatre, Milton, from 8 – 24 August 2024
For ticketing and further information, visit the PIP Theatre website
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