Who hasn’t dreamed of being famous? Of being adored, celebrated and showered with love? But what happens when that dream becomes a facade for something deeper?
Gabrielle Wilson wows audiences with her brilliantly hilarious and unexpectedly heartbreaking new cabaret at The Blue Room Theatre. Gabby Goes to Hollywood is sexy, ambitious and provocative, yet beneath the glamour lies something deeply vulnerable: a gut-wrenching exploration of desire, loneliness and the desperate need to be seen. Anchored by a powerhouse performance from Wilson, the show will have you laughing one moment and shocked the next. Imagine Fleabag meets Hollywood fantasy, with a whole lot of heartbreak in between.
A Bachelor of Acting graduate from the prestigious Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, Wilson presents her new semi-autobiographical cabaret exploring ambition, desire and mental health. Accompanied by pianist Lachlan Edinger, Gabrielle takes us behind the Hollywood fantasy and into the messy, vulnerable reality underneath.
We meet Gabby who lives with bipolar II disorder as she navigates life after drama school, complicated relationships and dreams of ‘making it’, all while her mental health rapidly declines. Originally developed in 2023 through the Australian Theatre for Young People (ATYP) Fresh Ink program, the script was written while Gabrielle was in and out of the ‘loony bin’ (her words, not mine). Three years later, making its professional debut, Gabby Goes to Hollywood takes audiences on a turbulent, heartfelt journey of despair, hope and resilience.
Gabby Goes To Hollywood. Photography by Shem Parkins.
Wilson’s writing is clever, detailed and deeply relatable. The confessional songs and stories, remind me of the darkly comic nature of Fleabag, skilfully blending the serious with the absurd. The humour is often outrageous, sometimes uncomfortable and unafraid to venture into taboo territory. Just as we begin to settle into Gabby’s world, the happy façade snaps, plunging us into the depths of a troubled mind and forcing us to question everything we have just laughed at. It’s painful, emotional and startlingly real. As tears stream down Gabrielle’s face, the audience responds with audible sniffles, a testament to just how deeply the story lands.
Gabrielle is a masterful performer, seamlessly shifting between multiple characters and emotional states, from an ambitious, manic pixie dream girl and a bright-eyed drama school graduate with Hollywood dreams, to a Gabby pushed to breaking point. It’s no doubt Wilson’s talent is undeniable as a performer and writer, as she handles the comedy and taboo realities of mental illness and hospitalisation with immense vulnerability, heart and guts. The jokes about being an unemployed drama school graduate and the brutal realities of arts funding hit painfully close to home for the artists in the audience, while her romanticised Hollywood ambitions make her journey all the more heartbreaking.
Gabby Goes To Hollywood. Photography by Shem Parkins.
Wilson holds the audience on the edge of their seats with hilariously heartbreaking storytelling, leaving you bursting out laughing one moment before twisting the knife and making you question, “Should I have laughed there?” It’s this ability to make us laugh in the face of shame, pain and darkness that makes her performance so utterly compelling.
One final note, with its minimal set and easily portable design, Gabby Goes to Hollywood feels perfectly suited to touring. I can easily see it finding a home at FRINGEWORLD 2027, where its sharp comedy, emotional honesty and strong performance could make it a standout addition to the program. And who knows, perhaps Edinburgh Fringe could be next!
Gabby Goes to Hollywood is on now at The Blue Room Theatre from Aug 25-Sep 5.