★★★★★
“For those of you who don’t know who I am. That’s homophobia.”
Exuberant and blue with a voice to boot, Reuben Kaye returns to Edinburgh Fringe with the hit show The Butch is Back, dominating the Assembly @ George Street. We need only sit and watch the opening sequence to know why this show won best cabaret in 2022.
Opening with a costume that pays tribute to Marie Antoinette, the audience most definitely enjoys their cake.
Performing with a 4 piece band, Kaye brings the audience along the road of self-discovery and self-assessment, all while keeping the audience on their toes with off-the-cuff remarks and observational humour.
Audience members are deadly aware of the talent Reuben Kaye possesses. I’ve never seen someone perform with such intensity all while in 6-inch heels.
Tackling questions and situations from personal experience and from existing in today’s world, Kaye’s answers come in the form of razor-sharp wit, and a God-given vocal range that leaves the sold-out audience flabbergasted.
The venue is engulfed by the performance – no one is safe as Kaye parades up and down the audience multiple times where of course, stellar observational humour comes into play.
Light and dark are mixed superbly with the use of repeated tableaus that resonate with the audience for different reasons each time.
A stand-out example of this comes from the vivid description of Kaye’s father painting to music, with the music returning as the reprise for a bittersweet moment reliving the same memory, but with age and wisdom.
Pronouns have been avoided during this review because Kaye’s gendered pronoun is ‘talented’ – this is correct.
The show finished at the Assembly @ George Street on the 27th of August
Review by Jade Flack
