Sarah McGuinness: Grit, Glitter And Gaslight theatre review – All guns blazing
With a dazzling stage presence and a powerful voice, Sarah McGuinness interweaves musical numbers with personal stories of her childhood and navigating the showbiz world
After spending a sizable chunk of her own career furthering other people’s (through producing shows and filmmaking), Sarah McGuinness has stepped out to be the star of her own hour. And what a star she is. Resplendent in a corset and shorts cabaret outfit and sharp bobbed hairstyle, McGuinness sits, strides and dances in her dressing-room stage set, taking us on a giddy life story. The narrative twists and turns from her incredible achievements as a singer, songwriter, producer and director to considerable lows. She tells of a traumatised childhood spent in Derry during the Troubles, being bullied for having a British accent (she was born in London), getting overlooked by people more interested in her more famous partner, and gaslit by a woman she had initially helped.
Peppered throughout, McGuinness returns to the singing that she so loved as a child and made some inroads with in the 90s with her own band. It’s wonderfully showcased with some of her own original songs, lyrical reworkings of other artists’ tunes and some direct covers. This is a triumphant affair, a glamorous phoenix in red lippy rising to shrug off snobbery, prejudice and misogyny, slipping on her boa as she ascends.
Sarah McGuinness: Grit, Glitter And Gaslight, Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 31 August, 10pm; picture: Andy Carver.