Bitch On Heat

Australian provocateur Leah Shelton holds the audience’s attention from the moment she emerges like a Greek goddess in a white robe and pink sex doll mouth into a room filled by screamo music. Dressed in a tight skin-coloured latex sex doll outfit, Shelton dances and finds herself opening Pandora’s box. She then unleashes an anti-burlesque routine where a gift, a second rubber sex doll, comes to life with skilled puppetry and lovingly undresses her.

With a quick change, she channels a man who only sees women as food or good for sex, before becoming a good dog who does what she is told, thus giving us a glimpse of how women have been oppressed. There's pure pleasure on Shelton's face as she does a victory pole dance with her attacker’s bloody head impaled on the pole – now a survivor who stands up for herself.

Bitch On Heat is a masterpiece that explores vintage sexism and sexual politics in the age of #MeToo. With dark humour and cult pop references exploring oppression, it wouldn't be everyone’s cup of tea, but the way it shocks and provokes the audience to both laughter and anger just blows you away.