Lucy McCormick’s Triple Threat

Nobody gives quite like Lucy McCormick. And in Triple Threat, her new performance, the New Testament is about to receive all it deserves and much more. And for that, we are grateful.

I learnt so much from Lucy in this performance. Pushing boundaries is one thing, but this woman clearly has no boundaries at all, and we are all the better for it. You’d think that there’s be nothing new to say about the oldest story ever told, but here I am not wanting to spoil it for you.

This show is hilariously funny, uncomfortable and uplifting – for lots of different reasons, and often all at the same time. The immaculate conception is finally explained, and Lucy pulls back the turin shroud that covers Jesus Christ himself. Like Pandora’s Box, once prised open, a deeply troubled space appears. And it seems to exist so that Lucy McCormick can try and fill it up: no orifice is left unexplored.

Her presence on stage is all at once down to earth and diva-esque – her team of dancers must do as they are told. Lucy, the goddess, the holder of the moral compass, clearly owns the moment and she reminds us of it throughout, amping up the tension as she peels back another layer and hits us with another power ballad. There is nothing fake or ironic here. It is clear she means and feels every word, and she desperately wants us to join in with her as she tries to manage the chaos on stage, losing control and falling down into an abyss of her own making.

What is  truth? Unless you have faith, all you ever can believe  is what is in front of you. When Lucy McCormick is anointed with Hellman’s mayonnaise, it ignites ecstasy in her. She gives us some sort of ancient kind of ceremony to hold on to. Is she Jesus or Mary or just GOD itself? She too sacrifices herself,  this part of her where her morality may have lived once. As the words “ Everything I do. I do it for you” are repeated,  she puts her faith and trust in us as she leaps into the outstretched arms of the congregation. We do not let her fall but carry her aloft.  She has finally risen.

Triple Theatre will be on at Underbelly at the Edinburgh Fringe from the 4-28 August. More info here.