Evita Too theatre review: Fierce, unpredictable riot
Isabel Perón takes the spotlight instead of Eva in Sh!t Theatre’s firmly feminist, unfiltered and roaring retelling
This may not have been the Mrs Perón musical you were looking for but it’s the one we deserve. Leave it to Fringe mainstays Sh!t Theatre (the formidable duo of Rebecca Biscuit and Louise Mothersole) to deliver a masterclass in historical storytelling with absurd cabaret and a soupçon of biographical realism. In Evita Too, the pair bring their signature DIY, delightfully chaotic aesthetic to an extraordinary forgotten chapter of global politics: the bizarre saga of Isabel Perón, the world's first female president, overshadowed by her husband’s first wife, Eva Perón, the woman seared into history by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Evita.
What makes the production so relentlessly sharp is its indirect method of storytelling. By chasing the echoes of the leader history chose to forget, Biscuit and Mothersole end up unpicking how cultural mythology is constructed, weaponised and marketed by men. It is a distinctly feminist piece of work, yet it eschews belabouring in favour of satirical subversion, biting wit and sheer cabaret-infused anarchy.
Told through a messy collage of homemade video projections, catch-and-release audience interaction and gloriously eccentric musical numbers, the show retains an unpolished Fringe spirit. The comedic timing between the two remains immaculate, effortlessly steering the room through deadpan delivery and dark political absurdity.
Evita Too is an absolute riot; a wonderfully unhinged, fiercely able treat that proves you can tackle systemic erasure and historical revisionism best when you take off your kit, rollerblade, ambush audiences with puppets and give into pure Fringe carnage.
Evita Too, Zoo Southside, until 30 August, 6.25pm; picture: Ali Wright.