Clara Cupcakes: The Worst @ Underbelly Bristo Square

Colourful, noisy and eight-legged, Clara Cupcakes (Elly Squire) is far from the worst. Trapped in a video game where the aim is to win back her boyfriend and move back into their pad in suburbia, the audience joins Clara as she embarks upon what is clearly an impossible mission. The game’s levels make no sense and seem to get Clara nowhere. Never able to save her progress she dies several times and has to start again at square one.

Thankfully for Clara, she is not on this journey by herself. She literally climbs into the audience, pulling people on stage to help her in a dance competition, to give just one example. Squire’s ability to interact with her audience and keep them on their toes is one of the many strengths of her show and ensures that the audience is engaged at all times.

The setup of the show allows Squire to create many different scenarios. From levels which require a strip-tease to ones that require a song or a dance, Clara Cupcakes always tries her best to level up. There are still moments of reflection though, and Clara’s heartbreak endears her yet more to her audience.

Clara Cupcakes: The Worst is certainly not for everyone. It is loud and brash, and though it is subversive in moments it is certainly not subtle. There are a couple of moments where a joke slightly misses its mark, although never by much, and for the most part, Squire keeps us laughing for the whole show. The Worst is completely silly in all the best ways.

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Clara Cupcakes: The Worst, Underbelly Bristo Square, 18-27 Aug, 18:50, £11 (£10)

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