Gasworks Arts Park, Friday 7th March 2025

I swear Piera’s smile arrives in a room about 5 minutes before she does, it’s like the sun coming up in the morning!

I had been meaning to see this show for quite a while but it always on somewhere where it is too far away for me to reasonably get to, clashes with something else or when I do not have any money. I was determined not to miss it again and ended up booking it when I did even though it meant I was out again the next day which I usually do not do.

This would be about the fourth or fifth time I had seen Piera in something but the first time I have seen her in her own show. She is hardly unique in this as I only just saw Die Roten Punkte late last year after 17 years of seeing them in other people’s shows!

I only had the vaguest notion of what this show was about but that was enough for me as I have enjoyed her performances whenever I saw her with Moira Finucane and company. Compared to those shows it is a lot more stripped back with just the piano accompanying her and was a lot more like a recital with a commentary in between songs.

Not that I really believe that there is a “correct” way of doing art as I never studied art or photography and have been told to not get lessons in case I ruin my own style. If you were hoping to get into a medium professionally and make money I would understand you would want to learn whatever is the “correct” way of doing it. I can’t believe there are “wrong” songs for a voice, whatever song you want to sing and enjoy should be the right song!

Opera gets a lot of grief for being the domain of the rich and getting all the money while other areas struggle. They are not helping themselves by being so elitist, how could you see Piera sing and not immediately say yes to her?

Another “why would you do that?” moment from when she talks about her stalker ex. I know someone who has had several stalkers, I have never seen someone more frightened. Even 10 years’ after they won’t go anywhere where they might risk the person turning up. Will not even get email or a smartphone and zero socials due to this.

Piera did offer to let people go out during that bit, in this performance it was not taken up on. Much better to do that than just not even put the warning in the show like Lou Wall did in her last comedy festival show. I was reading Neko Case’s autobiography and her assault just suddenly happens with no warning either (I was reading that in the foyer before the show, had to stop reading after that).

Was mainly Piera’s favourite operatic pieces during the show but there were also some contemporary numbers including “WAP” which she seems to have a lot of fun with.

Overall this was a great show and I recommend going to see it if you can manage it. After the show I got to say hello to her parents as I needed someone to give her the card I made her due to the trains stopping running early and I could not hang around. They enjoyed hearing about the performers in Global Smash Club having to run down the stairs from their dressing room and up the stairwell in Trades Hall to “enter stage left”. The show for me actually started when I was waiting in line for the show before it across the hall. I didn’t say EVERYTHING that was in that show, I was tactfull!

Rating: 5/5

Link:

https://www.pieradennerstein.com/