In a fun production, Broken Toy brings a light-hearted approach to themes of identity, belonging, and mental health. The show plays out as a cross between a pop concert and musical theatre as Pigtails takes you through her journey of healing.
With sharp synth-pop production, this show demonstrates that Boorloo has quite the penchant for this kind of sound. There were a few fumbles with the sound engineering on the night, which would be a challenging task in the tiny Kaos room at the Bluey. That room was a strange choice for this show, but Pigtails did well to work with the audience distributed on two perpendicular sides of the room.
The backup dancers, who were characterised as various emotions, were a brilliant ensemble that had all the charm of a pop group when they weren’t wearing their hand-drawn faces to represent their respective characters. They nailed the fluffy and uppity vibe that pop music calls for.
The choreography, expertly crafted by Shenae White, took advantage of V formations and well-thought-out angles to ensure that neither part of the audience distribution was disadvantaged. There were no shitty seats for the broke girlies at this show—everyone got a VIP experience.
If this show were strictly a pop concert that wasn’t trying to take itself too seriously, they’d have understood the assignment. But there was something in all this original composition that didn’t feel fresh. The concept of a pop-musical theatre hybrid was exciting, but it felt a little superficial and didn’t quite make a mark on me. The plight of mental health healing and self-acceptance turned out shallow in the sickly sweet pop packaging. While the distinctive phases of growth in the plot were relatable, I found the show as a whole hard to relate to.
The show opened with the four backup dancers facing a cardboard house with scribbles all over it, and a sooky Pigtails coming out for the first number with baby-voice bits throughout the song. A clever concept for a pop song; however, I feel like it was trying to be satirical and didn’t quite come across as such. The glow-up is clearly articulated as Pigtails matures throughout the progression of her songs, but there was a depth the story could have had that was limited by the candy-pop presentation. It was self-indulgent and wasn’t as self-aware as it wanted to be. But maybe it’s not that deep after all and was just meant to be a clean and simple story of healing in that vague way people like to talk about growth.
Despite my resonance with the show, it was still fun to watch. The Y2K inflatable couch and gigantic phone props were a nice touch, as was the vertical bed. If you’re looking for something light-hearted, then go to this show. It’s for anyone who has ever danced in their bedroom with posters all over the walls and convinced their friends to learn the routine in their favourite music video.
Broken Toy is on at The Blue Room Theatre from Feb 11-15.