THE DEB pays a debt to pleasure. With an opening song called Fuck My Life, led by a precocious schoolgirl and cohort of privileged choristers, the tone is set, the buzz begun.
Strictly Ballroom out of Welcome to Woop Woop, bold, outrageous, vulgar and funny, THE DEB is a vibrant Australian musical about two wildly different teenage cousins who start out at odds, but ultimately find common ground, and unexpected friendship, at their town’s annual debutante ball.
Street cred city kid and country bumpkin pumpkin are two peas in a podcast.
Hayseed high-school outsider Taylah Simpkins, who sees the upcoming Debutante Ball – “the Deb” – as her one shot to shine and finally step into the spotlight is somewhat sabotaged when her sharp-tongued, big-city cousin Maeve is shipped off to Taylah’s drought-stricken hometown of Dunburn.
Wantonly woke, patriarchy opposed and fervent feminist Maeve is unimpressed and unfiltered, quickly labels the whole affair a “hetero-normative shit-show,” turning tradition on its head and shaking up the town in the process.
A combustible relationship, the cousins clash, collide, and slowly begin to reconcile, as their shared quest for recognition becomes something deeper. Along the way, they’re forced to confront their insecurities, challenge expectations, and discover that true confidence comes from embracing exactly who you are.
Directed by Rebel Wilson and featuring a standout ensemble including Charlotte MacInnes as Maeve, Natalie Abbott as Taylah, with Shane Jacobson as her dad, Tara Morice as a replicant character from her Strictly Ballroom turn and Rebel Wilson herself, as, well, Rebel Wilson.
Wilson is credited with additional writing to Hannah Reilly’s screenplay whose story and lyrics is shared by Meg Washington, who wrote the music.
A dib of the lid goes to cinematographer Ross Emery, Production Designer Sam Hobbs and Costume Designer Margot Wilson.
Dazzling and daggy, THE DEB deserves to be the hit of the school holidays, going viral and feral for juvenile delinquent dance crazed web obsessed screen addicted adolescents and teens.
