Meow Meow’s Little Match Girl

You remember that famous Hans Christian Andersen story, The Little Match Girl, right? Surely, at some point, you must’ve been told that heart-warming 19th Century children’s tale about the little girl who freezes to death on New Year’s Eve? Well, not like this you haven’t.

Just in time for the holiday season, cabaret favourite Meow Meow (yep, that’s her name) and the Malthouse Theatre put a modern twist on a classic favourite, incorporating elements of vaudeville, jazz, pop and comedy into something Meow Meow herself describes as ‘kamikaze cabaret.’ Anyone unfamiliar with ‘kamikaze cabaret’ should be aware that it includes all the black lace and chandeliers you know and love from traditional cabaret but with the added element of danger. Front rows, consider yourselves warned…

This sense of danger is none more palpable than during the show’s opening, as a fiery rendition of Cole Porter’s ‘Too Darn Hot’ spectacularly concludes with all the theatre’s lights exploding. Even though the small arena space (lavishly designed by Anna Cordingley) soon becomes bathed in eerie darkness, any tension quickly dissipates as Meow Meow proves to be the spark that ignites The Little Match Girl. A wonderfully engaging singer and performer in her own right, Meow Meow is undoubtedly the star of this show and she isn’t shy about telling us either, casually bossing around her band and audience at every chance she gets. The first half of the show is rooted in Meow Meow’s comedic interaction with her, admittedly quite terrified, audience.  Together we try to resolve the lighting predicament using any means necessary, be it torches, floodlights or even mobile phones. As Meow Meow casually snatches audience members’ mobile phones on a whim, the crowd becomes like Paul Jackson’s co-lighting designers as we all try to light the intimate space so the show is able to continue. This perpetual darkness also proves to be an effective starting point for Meow Meow to break through the initial light-hearted comedy and launch into Andersen’s classic, sombre tale.

Through a very eclectic setlist ranging from Megan Washington to Richard Wagner, Meow Meow and artistic director Marion Potts are able to subtly evoke the spirit of abandonment and isolation so present within Andersen’s story without explicitly referring to the text. This is a difficult balance to maintain but Potts seems predominantly concerned with creating an effective mood rather than presenting the story most of us already know. In the show’s varied second half, although things start getting a little stranger, the performance simultaneously becomes more closely linked with Andersen’s narrative with Meow Meow transforming into the titular character, particularly through song. In Andersen’s story, the little match girl undergoes a series of visions of her loving grandma through the fading light of the matches so it seems only fitting that the show reflect this child-like dreaminess both visually and sonically. Using the runway space and lighting effectively, Meow Meow and Mitchell Butel create a fantastical air within the staging that evokes the feel of a fairy tale but within a cabaret setting.

Towards the mid-point of the ninety-minute show, the charming Butel (who you may have seen in Avenue Q) makes a grand entrance before joining Meow Meow onstage for a cheesy, Vaudevillian version of ‘What’s Going to Happen to the Tots?’ This duet is one of the show’s many highlights, cleverly tapping into the story’s darker content of child neglect in an overall comic tone. The Little Match Girl is full of playful humour and it is these moments that give it its fresh energy and momentum. A slight qualm of the show, as a whole, would be that, like the little match girl, the story becomes a little lost amid some of the more experimental material, particularly in the second half. However, for all the little twists and turns, it is Meow Meow’s mischievous charm that makes you want to stick with her right until the match girl’s quite touching and quite literal ascent into heaven.

In the past, some critics have joked about Meow Meow’s cabaret shows saying that ‘although you may not moved, you will most certainly be touched.’ However it seems that, with the help of Marion Potts and an impressive cast, Meow Meow has managed to stumble upon a place where both are possible. I guess the question that remains is whether a story largely intended for children and written over a century and a half ago can still retain any relevance for a contemporary Australian audience. Even Meow Meow admits a little trepidation in bringing the show to ‘the lucky country,’ pondering how we could ever relate to Andersen’s themes of abandonment and helplessness. However, through moments of poignancy, Meow Meow is able to bring to the audience’s attention the startling problem of homelessness and poverty in contemporary Australian society. This important inclusion adds a much-needed human touch to Andersen’s story and also reminds us that there are still thousands of real-life little match girls living out in the cold every night, searching for a way back home.