Ria Lina: Dear Daughter

If Ria Lina had died before this festival, the only maternal advice her daughter would have been left with would have been a YouTube clip of her mum singing a comedy song about dealing with the frustration of unsynchronised sexual climax. Thankfully for all concerned, her new show, Dear Daughter, goes some way to addressing this legacy issue.

Lina reads out letters for her daughter at several points. They are full of advice about how to deal with boys and how to negotiate her way through a world that is stacked against those with vaginas. At times it is lovely and lyrical, at other moments it is as awkward and cringey. As most advice offered from mums to daughters should be.

These missives punctuate the show, providing a nice breather between and counterpoint to what is otherwise a straightforward, slick standup act. Familiar territory of getting older, marriage and the ninja skills of thirsty children are handled with middle-manager competence. It’s never not funny, and is delivered with zing and a few ukulele songs, but only occasionally troubles the belly with laughter.

In contrast to the letters, attempted pathos via staged phone calls from her mum, and the photographic conclusion, feel muddled. It is the equivalent of a nimble pianist playing parts of a breezy score with her elbows. But for a show that is boldly about death, Lina leaves both the audience and her daughter with a show with significant traces of insight, defiance and life.