‘turns the familiar misery of heartbreak into an entertaining piece of cabaret with genuine emotional depth’
Unity Theatre’s Physical Fest has long championed theatre that is bold, strange, playful and a little bit off-centre, and Ungirlfriended fits perfectly within that tradition. Created and performed by Peta Lily, the show introduces us to Parker Dee, a drag-king cabaret crooner whose romantic life has spectacularly fallen apart. His girlfriend has “ungirlfriended” him, a wonderfully ridiculous word that becomes the emotional starting point for a show about heartbreak, masculinity and the absurd ways people behave when love goes wrong.
From the moment Parker enters the stage, he is a man in freefall. He swaggers, sulks, preens and spirals, desperately trying to maintain the image of a confident and charismatic man while everything beneath the surface is falling apart. There is something immediately likeable about him, even when his self-pity becomes almost unbearable. We recognise the type: someone who insists they are completely fine while behaving as though they have survived the greatest romantic tragedy in history.
Lily’s physical-theatre background is central to the performance. Parker’s movements are exaggerated and elastic, with his body often communicating what his words are trying to hide. His confidence can suddenly collapse, making his bravado appear almost like a balloon being inflated and deflated in front of us. The physical comedy provides plenty of laughs, but it also reveals the vulnerable person underneath Parker’s cartoonish exterior. We laugh at his ridiculous behaviour while recognising something familiar in his emotional chaos.
Music is another important part of the show. Songs such as Manspreading, a bluesy comic original, and Ow, Baby, a Brel-like heartbreak ballad, alongside quirky rearrangements of traditional songs, give the production its bruised and melodramatic heart. Parker sings with the grand sincerity of someone convinced that his break-up deserves a place among the great romantic tragedies. The contrast between the Liverpool studio space and Parker’s imagined Parisian nightclub adds to the humour and theatricality.
Beneath the glitter, Ungirlfriended also explores masculinity and the pressure on men to hide emotional vulnerability behind confidence, humour and bravado. Parker’s drag-king persona makes this contradiction especially visible: the bigger and more confident he tries to appear, the more obvious his insecurity becomes. However, he is not simply a parody of men behaving badly. He represents the way heartbreak can make anyone irrational, self-indulgent and completely ridiculous.
The production moves between clowning, cabaret and confessional theatre, reflecting Parker’s unstable emotional state. Its scrappy, intimate quality suits the material, relying on performance, physicality and music rather than elaborate spectacle.
Ultimately, Ungirlfriended is funny, theatrical and surprisingly tender. Parker may begin as a man determined to see himself as the tragic hero of his own break-up, but by the end he becomes something much more human: a bruised, ridiculous and endearing character trying to understand what happens when someone who once loved him no longer does. Scrappy, charming and glitter-flecked, the show turns the familiar misery of heartbreak into an entertaining piece of cabaret with genuine emotional depth.
Review Date: 8th September 2026
Star Rating: FOUR