Skinny at Fringe Perth

Michelle Pearson in Skinny at Fringe Perth
Photo Credit: Rachel Scholich

Liberty Theatre is one of my favourite venues and I was looking forward to watching Skinny with my partner there on another Fringe evening out.

This time it was to watch Michelle Pearson (from Adelaide) in her Off-Broadway hit show Skinny – telling her personal story about body image issues from a young age and her quest to have the perfect skinny figure.

The show tackles issues such as society’s obsession with being thin, and the absurd lengths that we go to in our quest to look perfect in society’s eyes.

Michelle blitzed the stage right from the get go, accompanied by her 4 piece band. Her voice is amazing, her stories are heartfelt (and heartbreaking in parts), and she commands the stage dressed beautifully in all her different outfits.

There were some funny little moments as well – including my partner being asked to help Michelle on stage. That was in good fun – and my partner does often suggest that he would prefer not to sit in the front row – but hey, he did a great job and it’s all in the name of helping our performers out!

Michelle is resilient and a fighter – I applaud her for sharing her experiences without holding back. I’m sure her struggles will have a profound impact on those who have watched Skinny – hopefully empowering individuals to define their own beauty and commensurate body image and avoiding the mistakes Michelle made such as having surgery for body image issues and suffering the ensuant complications.

The audience lapped it all up – cheering her on, and inviting her to give us just one more song after a well-deserved ovation.

I love the buzz of Fringe, and the Liberty Theatre is a fun place to go – there are bars dotted throughout the place as you wait to watch yet another fun and exciting Fringe show.

We left Liberty Theatre on a high after having watched Skinny – and also reflected on some of the serious notes of her story and how it will change lives in a positive way. 

Thank you Michelle for having the courage to speak out about your own body image issues in such an open and authentic manner.

With only 2 more shows to go – tonight and tomorrow night – Skinny by Michelle Pearson should be on your must watch list as an amazing and important show, as last night’s full house audience could attest to!

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