The Butterfly Club

 2 – 6 November 2016

The eponymous star, Petra is a vivacious, talented whirlwind who commands attention, sometimes quite literally.

From her frank discussion of learning to love herself to simulated self love, Petrasexual is a brief musical exploration of feminism, sexual identity, consent, marriage equality, and self worth. With her wry wit, frankness and mostly light-hearted musical approach, Petra manages to make this typically confronting subject matter innocuous and accessible.

The intimacy of cabaret makes this the perfect choice for this subject matter. Frank discussion and recollection of incidents that shaped her sexual identity punctuate parodies of contemporary songs and sex-themed songs like Ruth Wallis’ Boobs.

Petra opens with Blurred Lines, singing replacement lyrics about the importance of mutual consent as she performs a reverse strip. Aside from this brief partial nudity and simulated masturbation, Petrasexual is surprisingly tame for a show about sex.

Unfortunately a faulty microphone results in Petra’s vocals fluctuating in volume, but between her obvious talent and the supporting musicians on piano and double bass, this minor distraction is easily overlooked. In the The Butterfly Club’s small performance room, Petra could arguably perform just as well without a microphone.

Petra playfully engages with her musical support as much as she engages with the audience, teasing the bass player for his enthusiastic facial expressions.

From singing about choosing her heels over sex to regaling us with stories about her sexual mishaps, Petra is a captivating storyteller, performer and entertainer.