Sydney's Belvoir Street Theatre has advanced the careers of Australian talents such as Cate Blanchett and Geoffrey Rush, as well as some you probably won't be aware of, such as Little Davy Page.
For about 15 seconds in the early 1970s, the 13-year-old Page achieved national exposure as Australia's answer to Michael Jackson. In fact, if the vintage television clips of him grinning toothily in a polyester jumpsuit are anything to go by, he was closer to the Australian answer to Jimmy Osmond. In this poignant one-man performance, the mature Mr Page considers what becomes of child stars once the voice breaks and the hits dry up.
It's quite a story. Born the eighth of 12 children to Aboriginal parents on a housing estate in Brisbane, Page graduated from dancing on the kitchen table to appearing in local talent contests and eventually sharing a record label with Otis Redding and Aretha Franklin. These days Page is a respected composer of dance scores, but for much of his early adulthood he was a mess, dangerously addicted to drugs, drink and casual gay sex. Now, under the direction of his brother Stephen, Page draws upon home movies, drag routines and a host of quite ludicrous costumes to illustrate his misspent youth.
There's not a great deal in terms of staging, apart from a large closet, from which he symbolically emerges in various forms of drag. Yet Page combines the natural charisma of a born exhibitionist with the slightly gauche air of the lifelong outsider. And there's genuine emotional fulfilment at the end, when he declares that he has finally come to terms with who he is, before skipping off and returning as Tina Turner.
· Ends tonight. Box office: 0161-236 7110. Then touring.
