| REVIEWS.............
The Age – Dan Ziffer
ACTRESS Kate McLennan is an entire school of characters as she prepares for the big "deb" ball. This accomplished character comedy - in the same vein as Alan Brough's Top Town and Damian Callinan's Sportsman's Night - won best comedy and most outstanding newcomer at the Fringe Festival last year. But it is a very accessible, mainstream solo show. Each role is fleshed out with glee, with McLennan a thrill to watch as she morphs between creepy organiser, school bitch, persecuted homosexual, down-trodden loser and more.
A winner.
The Skinny Fest Mag - Edinburgh Fringe Festival
Comedy: Kate McLennan - The Debutante Diaries
Kate McLennan - The Debutante Diaries * * * *
Australian actress Kate McLennan performs an entire High School's worth of characters in her character comedy show The Debutante Diaries, in which we follow the highs and lows of a senior school year approaching their big “deb” ball. Now if you, like me, are aware of the word debutante only as something involving the aristocracy and Victorian ballrooms then you had best be informed that in Australia the debutante ball is roughly similar to the American prom or, if you prefer, the Scottish Piss-Up.
One-person shows are always a bit hit and miss, so it's wonderful to watch as McLennan seamlessly switches between over-the-top homosexual, school bitch, bitter chain-smoking teacher and the unflaggingly perky valley-girl. And even in this country it's easy enough to recognise these characters from our own school days, as gloriously exaggerated as they are. However, the show reaches its most poignant with the main character, Sophie McCallister, a heartbreakingly naïve girl who desperately wants to be a Cinderella on her big night but must negotiate a maze of set-backs – from her struggles to find a date for the big night to her lecherous boss in the fried chicken shop where she slaves to pay for her ticket.
The Debutante Diaries was a massive success in McLennan's home country and, while some of the jokes at Aussie suburbia have been lost in translation, it's easy to see why. Warm, funny, and surprisingly moving, McLennan's show is a definite winner.
The Stage
www.thestage.co.uk
Kate McLennan - The Debutante Diaries
Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh
In Australia, the sixth form debutante ball would seem to be a rite of life’s passage.
And even if you have no experience of the highs and lows of having endured one, Kate McLennan effortlessly makes you feel belle of the ball by single headedly creating an oddball cast who vividly tell the story of the build-up to one particular ball and what transpires there.
Stacey is the blonde anxious to get her boob job and anus bleaching sorted before the big day, permanently bitching about everyone else to her mate Adam, the hard-done-by Only Gay in the School who’s just as anxious to make himself into a cause celebre if the school bans his male partner.
Crystal is the belle of the school who sees the ball as her launch pad to the life of genteel glamour that awaits her coming of age ceremony. Meanwhile her boyfriend, football jock Maddy, is nervously working out how to tell her that he’s not quite the material she’s looking for.
Desperate to keep up with them all is Sophie, the shy homely mouse who’s a bit hopeless at everything, including getting her gran to knock up her homemade party frock. Rubbing his hands in sleazy anticipation of the PR opportunity is local promoter Guy, while watching on with undisguised disdain is teacher Carla horrified by the memories of her own deb ball that are being awakened.
McLennan creates lasting characters that make a real story. These are not vapid caricatures - McLennan gives each of her characters a zinging personality, bringing to life their strengths and weaknesses in such a way that you feel for their struggle to make something of themselves at the ball. Her comic timing is spot on too and the scene where Carla wearily observes natural selection happening all around her in the high school canteen would make Joyce Grenfell blush.
Aussietheatre.com - Christina Cass
Kate McLennan (The Wrong Night and Let Loose Live) had me absolutely howling with laughter during her new show, The Debutante Diaries, now playing at The Raglan in the Fringe Festival Hub. Directed by Fiona Harris (SkitHOUSE and Flipside) and written and performed by McLennan herself, I laughed; I cried (really, I really cried) but was mostly astounded by McLennan’s seamless work depicting the trials and tribulations of preparing for that classic teenage right of passage – The Debutante Ball. McLennan morphs between eight different characters and with aid of only a prop or two. She completely embodies the bitchy “mean girl”, the perpetually perky socialite, her jock boyfriend and the lecherous perv teacher/organizer of the Ball. They’re great fun to laugh at and make fun of, because we all know these people – we dealt with them in high school and we’re probably still dealing with them today. That’s one of the reasons her writing is so successful – it smacks of truth – and when we witness her most poignant character, Sophie, negotiating the confusing maze of preparation to her “fairytale night” it can break our heart. Harris’ direction is for the most part spot-on. Less is more in a one-woman show and although McLennan is a master at transformation, she would be greatly aided by better technical transitions. Perhaps by watching a recording one of Lily Tomlin’s classic one-woman shows, one can see how sound and light can truly act as a buffer between characters and help the actor propel the story forward rather than continually stop-starting.
Adelaide Advertiser – Liz Walsh
Put this in your diary. Dear Diary, on Wednesday night I went to a one-woman show put on by a girl called Kate McLennan. She's come all the way from the Melbourne Fringe where she won two comedy awards. My goodness, was she funny – and talented and witty. The play, directed by Fiona Harris, was all about a bunch of girls preparing for their Year 11 deb ball. I never had my deb and, after seeing this, I think I'm glad I didn't. Some of the kids' stories were really hilarious, and some were really sad. Most of all, these characters – who simply lit up the stage – were full of clever insights into our modern society. The script was incredible, and I think that one day it might even make a really good movie. You never know. Dear Diary, I cannot tell you enough how much you really should make time to check out her show. You won't regret it.
SA Theatre Guide - Simon Slade
Kate McLennan answers the age-old question about whether Debutantes have balls. Playing nine different characters, she switches effortlessly between them, sometimes even playing two of them opposite each other. Highlights include; Chrystelle Jones, the girl who is chairing the organising committee; Mr Gerrity, the teacher in charge of the Deb Ball, and coach of the girls swimming, netball, and softball teams; and Carla, the jaded teacher. There are people here that we can all recognise, just hopefully not as ourselves! The agony of the journey through the teenage years is presented in a wonderfully comic script. The struggle to fit in is epitomised by Sophie, with her moving diary entries. Poor and unpopular, she is the heart and soul of the show. She makes us come to realise that the things that are really important to us are not the things that everyone tells us we need. The writing is excellent, and the pace kept up for the full hour of the show. Kate McLennan is simply hilarious. This show is an absolute gem, and not to be missed.
THE DEBUTANTE DIARIES
Review - Buzzcuts
What can I say? I enjoyed this show so much that I’m still laughing about Kate McLennan’s facial expressions. Each character, school-bitches included, goes on their own little journey in the lead up to the big Deb night.
There..s the chain-smoking, bitter, and bloody amusing teacher who has been told by the principal that if she doesn..t have a date to the Deb she should..t worry, she ..could meet Mr Right there. There..s a school..s AFL draft pick (yes, the popular girls fight over him), who has done his knee and is finished at 17. Then there..s Sophie, the sweet and innocent Cinderella, who just really wants to go to the Deb and slaves away in a chicken shop to be able to pay off the ticket price.
All of this is very funny .. and I mean really hysterical .. until one of the characters starts going though hard times. And you actually care, with misty eyes and everything. And then there..s the climatic ending where each characters.. paths cross with some hilarious results.
The whole thing is really slick, too; well-paced, good script (the characters are scarily spot on) and it's really engrossing. McLennan even manages holding a conversation between two characters, switching voices, facial expressions, and pitch, without missing a beat. She..s so secure right from the start, that there is none of that stressful sympathetic fear that can sometimes be experienced at one person shows. You can relax; McLennan has it totally under control
Show Review The Debutante Diaries
by Annette Slattery .. Groggy Squirrel
It's not often that I get to review a comedy show and say that, along with some very hearty laughs, this is also a bit of a tear jerker.
The Debutante Diaries is a one woman play, written and performed by Kate McLennan documenting the journey up to and including the high school Debutante ball. Kate has created a whole cast of characters and her accomplishment as a character actor is apparent from the get go.
The cast.. includes Sophie, full of sweet innocence; Crystal (pronounced ..cris-tell) and Stacey, variations on the regulation school bitch; publicity obsessed Adam; the sleazy Mr Garrety; Matty, the reluctant boyfriend and Miss Kennedy, the single, often bitter and delightfully caustic female teacher. In many ways these characters are stereotypes, but in the tradition of comedy which is about taking the truth and making it larger, these characters work well, successfully illustrating the narrative and providing some hilarious moments of stereotype parody.
This is a very well written piece, with a real truthfulness to the humour that not only evokes laughs but informs the characters. There were a few slightly flat patches during the course of the show but they barely matter within the context of a show that does really deliver on the laughs and in content. Character changes are indicated by very simple costume changes, but are emphasised by Kate..s ability to swap and change cleanly and clearly from one to the other.
There were a couple of moments towards the end of this show which made me tear up. To blame that on me being a sentimental old fool would be doing a disservice to Kate. To evoke that kind of reaction demonstrates how much Kate has made her audience truly empathise with her characters and connect with Kate herself.
This is a great show which goes from gut wrenchingly funny to sweetly sad. Kate is a young comic who shows herself to be an accomplished writer and performer, and displays the potential to become something really special as she continues to develop | 
