Maryann Devally is a recovering uberfan, a pop stalker in remission, and her one- woman show is part of her rehabilitation. And the therapy seems to be working, as she brushes off her fascination with the purple pop star to take us through her life of infatuation.
Often misquoting lyrics, dancing and singing, Maryann gets carried away with her fanaticism, blaming her Catholic upbringing for a series of impossible crushes including Jesus, Morrissey and Jimmy Saville, before settling on Prince. Her show is a brief, honest and soulful history of her efforts to meet the elusive star, journeying around the globe and ending up on his tour bus, star struck and unprepared. On the way we are introduced to the Prince fan (like fans, but better) club, his backing band and his pet cat, resident at a Minneapolis recording studio.
Maryann comes across as confident, sassy and intelligent throughout, specialising in the engaging tale of her experiences. Her approach to stalking is more of the wholesome, innocent obsessed rather than the knife-wielding psychopath of tabloid representation, but the endearing, wholehearted summary of her experiences rank as far more insightful and entertaining. She gives hope to the dreamers like her, set against the appropriate Prince back catalogue soundtrack, and the resounding applause at the end is well deserved and totally justified.
4/5
Simon Ferguson
