Edinburgh Fringe 2024
MILF and the Mistress
CrunchySmooth Productions
Genre: LGBT, Solo Performance
Venue: The Space at Niddry Street
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
Something different, definitely new, nothing borrowed but tends to the blue…Brilliant script, well delivered with pace and sympathy whilst we all get tied up in the narrative –
Review
Let’s get the brave bit out of the way first. Jennifer Vuletic manages to go topless at an age most women might feel self-conscious. How condescending. And so, this is not a brave piece of theatre but a tremendous piece of storytelling.
There is, of course, value in the shock of a woman talking about BDSM in an enjoyable fashion. Of a lesbian, of a certain age or even an uncertain one, who is in a loving and caring relationship of some years exploring what it is like to be dominated and fulfilled through the pain of sessions with a dominatrix is nothing if not intriguing. And a Dom who operates differently outside of the sessions and seems like a possible future friend and confidante – intrigue gathers. That may well be the point in a script, by Jane Montgomery Griffiths, which is beautifully able to give Vuletic the opportunity to show her vulnerability, and her latent and latex desires.
Vuletic gives a hypnotic performance and along with many other shows on the Fringe deserves a far bigger audience than she attracts here. She manages to give her character both poise and grace as well as managing to hilariously give us insight to how a lesbian couple, with children, are viewed in 2024. When things move to the consideration of how she may fulfil herself through finding her kink it is a natural segway without any joins.
There is little need for much by way of set as Vuletic manages to inhabit more than the space. It is an unashamed challenge to our thinking and our “normality” which has such a great feel to it. The lack of any embarrassment and the journey taken into the realm of dungeons and sex work is so creative and respectful it is easy to go on that journey with her. It is a graceful and attractive as well as a seductive presence.
By the end whilst I might not have scrolled to find the nearest dungeon to where I live, there was a respect for both sides of the equation in MILF and the Mistress. Due to the way in which the show has been performed and the creative craft involved in the script alongside the direction being very aware of where the pace needs quickened and slowed for effect with comedy inserted because… it is funny … this worked really well. A topic likely to entice late night giggles but taken here and put to good use – to make us more respectful but still a little unsure and fascinated by the whole thing.
