I went into Saving Britney expecting a show about the campaign to free Britney Spears from her conservatorship. What I discovered was something rather different – a coming-of-age story in which Britney provides the soundtrack to somebody else’s life.
Shereen Roushbaiani plays Jean, whose relationship with Britney begins as an excited young fan and follows her through adolescence into adulthood. Against a deceptively simple bedroom setting, moments in Britney’s career become markers for events in Jean’s own evolving and sometimes traumatic story.
Initially, I wondered whether a lifelong love of Britney Spears was substantial enough to carry a play. Then its central idea clicked. Pop music has an extraordinary ability to timestamp our lives. An album or song can return us instantly to who we were and what we were experiencing when we first heard it. Viewed that way, Jean’s attachment to Britney feels considerably less like celebrity obsession and more like the chronology of a life.
Roushbaiani’s performance is the production’s greatest strength. Her transition from young girl, through adolescence towards adulthood is achieved particularly effectively through changes in voice and characterisation. At times, you almost feel Jean ageing in front of you.
Saving Britney didn’t affect me as deeply as some of the shows I saw at this year’s Fringe, but I found its central concept fascinating and Roushbaiani an engaging and accomplished performer.
Saving Britney, 13:20, Underbelly, Bristo Square – Dexter, until 31 August
