Helen Bauer has the room in the palm of her hand. The audience never has a moment to breathe, belly laughing from the start. But Bless Her is more than an onslaught of laughter.
Bauer has had to reluctantly bring her eight-year-old self on stage as part of her therapy – an exercise to try and love her inner child. They hate each other. Despite the child being invisible to us, we are able to clearly picture her there, staring in horror as Bauer looks down at her with disgust.
A core theme of the show is trying to love yourself when you hate yourself, and questioning the wisdom of self compassion. When people recommend being a friend to yourself, Bauer has to ask ‘which friend?’. It makes a huge difference.
This leads Bauer to explore the complex nature of female friendships, especially when it comes to the comparisons constantly drawn between women’s eating habits. She somehow manages to make recounting her secret binge eating as a child absolutely hilarious.
This is Bauer’s key strength. Every raw moment keeps its authenticity and gut-punching sadness while the audience is still commanded into uncontrollable laughter. It’s through these moments that Bauer begins to empathise with her inner child; recognising the journey they’ve taken together to where Bauer is today.
Helen Bauer: Bless Her, Monkey Barrel, until 24 Aug (not 4, 11, 18), 3.20pm