Written and performed by Kate McLennan, The Debutante Diaries won Best Comedy and Best Newcomer awards at last year’s Melbourne Fringe Festival. Watching it at this year’s comedy festival, it’s so easy to see why.

Deftly and effectively, McLennan maps out a series of characters who are planning for their grand appearance at Libra Hills High Debutante Ball.

The characters include the sweet and sad Sophie, the bitch-queen Krystaal Jones, and ambitious social-climber Stacey. Along the way we’re also introduced to Guy Gerrity, the sleazey phys-ed teacher who’s organising the show; Carla, the bitter lefty teacher whose life is so empty she even fakes her own orgasms; and a range of other students, including Krystaal’s footy-hero boyfriend, and Stacey’s gay best friend.

The Debutante Diaries is a beautifully realised show. It balances pathos and hilarity, and it builds with immaculate timing to an ending that, although slightly underplayed, stayed true to the awkwardly endearing tone established in the opening scenes of The Debutante Diaries.

Without props, on a bare stage, McLennan shifts from character to character using only the simplest of lighting and sound queues, creating a caustic high school comedy for the teenage girl in all of us.

Less character-driven stand-up and more a one-woman theatrical performance, this is a Melbourne International Comedy Festival show that I heartily recommend.

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