Oh, Dame Edna!

Thursday night, at Her Majesty's Theatre (where else?) in Adelaide - an audience consisting entirely of white Australians, of very varying ages - did that very ancient couple in the row in front of me know what they were letting themselves in for?

The show started with Dame Edna, her pianist and the Edna-tones (her backing group, dancers, scene shifters) bursting into song - it's Dame Edna's 50th anniversary of being on stage! Followed by a film clip which allowed her/him to change into the ghastly Les Patterson character, spitting and dribbling (how does he do that? - it was very dangerous in the front row) and with a huge penis tucked into his left trouser leg. His jokes were outrageous, and the audience was in uproar - especially the front row.... This was followed by Sandy Stone, a character I did not know, who did a very interesting, and quite quiet, monologue about old people's homes - it seems the situation in Australia is much like that in other parts of the world.

Only after the interval did Dame Edna return, and she certainly was back with a vengeance. She's by far the best character of them all! Flounced all over the stage, sang, danced (aged 73), and then began to pick on the audience. I watched in appalled fear from the fourth row! First she picked on some women, the last of which was a stand-up comic from Honolulu with an unusual name - causing some consternation! Then she arranged a wedding of two people who had been shown to be very compatible by some 'research'. Hmmmm. She picked some interesting ones there!

One was a very small, very old lady, who when asked about her marital status, said she was a widow. How long? 6 months - ouch! The other one was a young guy, who said he was not single. When asked about the lucky girl, his male partner jubilantly popped up in the audience. Much crossing of eyes and curling of lips ensued! She got them married, and then decided to phone the young guy's mother. He only went 'oh my god, oh my god' - and we did not know what exactly might be the problem...When the mum answered, Dame Edna told her that she had some news which the mother might have been dreaming of for a very long time.....The mother was totally flummoxed, and eventually hung up. Even Dame Edna realised that she might have gone a step too far!

It was a brilliant, brilliant show! Did not understand all since it was more Aussie than on UK TV, but everyone had a fantastic time! Definitely worth the ticket price!