“God loved us and accepted us just as we are- all we had to do was change who we were”. Anthony Menchetti’s helium filled voice relates his true life experiences with fanatical parents and a church therapy group which tried to change his ‘vagina decliner” status to religiously acceptable heterosexuality.

For an hour Menchetti tells us of his fellow students in the Western Australian based Gay Conversion School (GCS) and their various ‘falls’ on the road to straightdom. Appropriately enough these meetings were held in a church- as the backdrop in the theatre suggests. On the journey to spiritual and sexual realization we hear about Menchetti’s evangelistic born again Mother who prays for car parking spaces and his Catholic Italian Father with a penchant for collecting statutes of Jesus in an effort to assuage his sins.

Menchetti’s premise, title of the show and ‘blurb’ about it promised a rich night of comedy, but unfortunately like those spoiler theatrical trailers, most of the best bits were already exposed. There were some jokes which resonated with the audience (a comparison of gay saunas and Ikea) but Menchetti appeared uncomfortable and lacking confidence. Perhaps it was first night nerves which made his delivery lack comedic force. Despite his statements that he had recovered from the GCS experience and was now accepted by both his parents, he came across at times as bitter in his recitation of the ‘five step program of liberation’.

Perhaps the setting is wrong. Given the small theatre I wondered why the characters recalled were not acted out and ‘brought to life’ by Menchetti. The night felt more like an amusing experience to be related in a pub rather than a stand alone theatre show. Towards the end Menchetti relaxed more and the show, although cumbersome in design, flowed better towards the end.