Britney Spears: The Cabaret, The Other Palace Theatre review ★★★★★

Precocious schoolgirl, virginal teen, red-neck trash, woman on the verge... we get all the Britneys in Christie Whelen Browne's irreverent and moving cabaret tribute to the Pop-star.

With long blonde hair, slender tanned legs and a vast smile, Whelen Browne looks the part. She speaks directly to us, as Britney, telling her story. Songs are accompanied by just as piano and interspersed with anecdotes told with an upbeat Southern twang. The vocals are impressive, but it's the goofiness and playful caricature that make the cabaret so entertaining.

We know the narrative already: Britney Spears is the girl everyone wants a piece of, the victim of relentless paparazzi and the subject of near-academic long-form think pieces. And let's not forget the volume of top-ten hits she's churned out since 'Baby One More Time' in 1998.

These hits are placed deviously. Sexed up, breathy 'Slave 4 U' is transformed into a goofy, little-girly beauty pageant performance complete with baton-twirling and tap dancing. It's a gloriously funny, yet disturbing portrait of a stage school childhood. 'Toxic' becomes an uncomfortable love-song to Justin Timberlake. The flirtiness and gags grow increasingly dark as we encounter '2007 Britney' of head-shaving notoriety.

The cabaret is a shrewd critique of the fame machine; you can see manufacturing, the exploitation, the manipulation and the seeds of Taylor Swift, Rihanna, and all who dare to be in the spotlight. But you also get to spend an hour with a woman who's been to the top, right down to the very bottom - and survived.