Weather Girl is playing at the Cairns Lecture Theatre, Summerhall until the 26th of August. This sizzling hot blast of a play showcases some of the brightest lights of the festival.
Greeted by a curious-looking stage; an array of microphones, dark oblong shapes, and portable lights jut out, giving the impression of a press conference or, as we later discover, a studio.
TV Weather Girl, Stacey, is a hot mess; literally and metaphorically. Behind the stuck-on smile and permanently sunny outlook expected of someone in her job role, is a person who is just barely holding it together. As the action of the play unfolds, she slowly melts away the facade to come face to face with what lies beneath. What she finds is pretty ugly, chaotic, and yet somehow more connected, more capable of sifting through the lies and deceptions to focus on the most important things.
The writing is sharp, ominous, and deeply evocative, almost Wilde-esque in its earthy, visceral descriptions. Each spoken line plays out like a high-resolution movie in her head. Director Tyne Rafaeli does an excellent job, ensuring the limited space never feels static; it’s always crackling with foreboding undertones in music and shifting, atmospheric lighting.
It is easy to forget we are watching a one-woman show, not so much because she plays so many other roles—if anything, it’s a small but brilliantly drawn cast of supporting characters—it is that she fills the stage with her presence, power, and pinpoint timing. It’s a truly bravura performance by Julia McDermott, brimming with confidence, connection, and truth that slaps you in the face, begging you to wake up to the ultimate message of the piece. It’s brilliant theatre, not to be missed.
An unrelenting, chest-thumping theatrical experience; Weather Girl deserves a lot of heat.
