Camille: The Dark Angel

The discerning Fringe reviewer is reluctant to give five stars to any show. This is not out of spite, or, as some might suggest, a power trip from the big boys and girls with press passes, but because few performances are flawless, and fewer are truly original.

Camille O’Sullivan’s performance demands five stars, and perhaps more.

With a powerful, stunning voice and cabaret act perfectly suited to the Assembly venue, The Dark Angel is one show no Fringe-goer should miss.

Glamorous, downtrodden, sensuous, raunchy, ethereal, melancholic – O’Sullivan covers songs as a born actress adopts a role, and the result is that each is delivered by a different Camille altogether, and to great effect.

Making her way through multiple onstage costume changes, friendly banter and a wide and varied catalogue of covers from Jacques Brel to Nick Cave, the singer will have you tapping your toes one minute, and leave you heartbroken the next.

O’Sullivan warns the audience that if they aren’t scared yet, they should be. What follows, however, is no cause for fear. In fact, our glamorous chanteuse seems so at ease on stage as she rolls on the floor and uncorks wine with her teeth, that her audience cannot help but fall under a spell, hanging on her every word and movement.

Despite her protestations that everyone must think she is mad, it is clear that O’Sullivan knows how to break down that invisible wall and entice audiences into her world; a world where the hilarity and allure of Kirsty McColl songs exist alongside Tom Waits tunes about misery and the sorry state of humanity.

The resounding feeling is that Camille doesn’t command the stage; instead it is her home, and we are both lucky and extremely welcome to see her in her element.

She ends the show with her favourite word—a small, playful "meow"—and urges everyone in the room to join her, both tonight, and on the street the next day.

Judging by the standing ovation she received from a packed crowd, the "meow" seems set to take the streets of Edinburgh by storm, at this year’s Fringe and beyond.