Damsel in Shining Armour

Everyone needs a little drama in their life. When you spend long, lonely evenings in Harrogate, listening to Céline Dion and dreaming of a life of soaring romance and crushing heartbreak, the everyday can begin to look severely underwhelming. Sophie Walsh-Harrington's often hilarious cocktail of story-telling, snippets of song and wide-eyed emotional breakdown is the tale of one woman's globe-hopping adventure in search of a happy ever after, or at least a properly good shag.

As each whirlwind romance resolves into a light breeze, her burning desire for melodrama is punctured at every turn by the banal. You can take the girl out of Harrogate, but can you take Harrogate out of the girl? Walsh-Harrington's performance is instantly appealing, her Yorkshire accent swerving suddenly into great, belting vocals as she garnishes her story with wittily selected bursts of Cyndi Lauper or Dion. Her comic timing is immaculate, and there's a sense of control and polish that comfortably puts her in the top tier of cabaret performers. A fumbling struggle with an errant fan (of the spinning metal variety) is a comic highlight.

Sadly, things sag a little towards the half-way mark. The songs continue to impress, but by the time Walsh-Harrington has found her fairy tale ending, the message and the methods have both become repetitious. It's still a fiercely assured hour of cabaret, but unless your appetite for Canadian power ballads is utterly insatiable, you may start flagging before the glitter-bomb climax.