In this genre-busting, ritualistic riot of a show, Emma Maye Gibson as Betty Grumble transforms her stage into an altar of self love, righteous self repossession and carnal, collective play.
Betty Grumble is a formidable persona, not just for her creator Emma Maye Gibson but also for the audience this raucous clown compels and galvanises. The vulnerability in Enemies of Grooviness Eat Sh!t is not fragile, it is a no holds barred display of powerful rawness from complete nudity to release, both sexual and cathartic. Though Gibson expresses with every cranny of her naked body, the show feels even more intimate and exposing when it journeys into the anger and reclamation following Gibson prosecuting a former partner for domestic violence. It’s a potent emergence of body autonomy, protest and useful, rousing rage.
Gibson gingerly balances the irreverence, provocation and full-frontal exposure of this show with a fierce, almost sacred adherence to her message of ecosexuality. She pulls the audience to the edge with her, but never for shock value. The small but impactful touch of offering the audience each a homemade shaker made of paper cups and rice works perfectly to give the crowd a way to converse with Gibson and with each other outwith whooping or clapping or snapping. It’s a subtle way to elevate the communal, arguably congregational vibe of this piece.
With homage to artists that have shaped her, musical accompaniment from partner Craig on the keys and rizz and a celebratory slip n’ slide of glorious freedom for a finale, this is a pulsing, reckoning hour of worship for the sexy, both secular and non. Thank you, bodies!