BAD GIRLS UPSET BY THE TRUTH

Dee's Cafe & Bar, 403 Princes Street, Dunedin

22/03/2019 - 24/03/2019

Dunedin Fringe 2019

Production Details



‘BAD GIRLS UPSET BY THE TRUTH’ IS AN ABSURDIST MUSICAL COMEDY WRITTEN AND COMPOSED BY “THE GREATEST TEXAS SONGWRITER YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF,” A SMALL-TOWN WEST TEXAS NATIVE NAMED JO CAROL PIERCE.

This one-woman show follows Jo Carol as she seeks answers to life’s burning questions, like when she asks Jesus: “What are these boys for and what am I supposed to do with them?!” But rather than set her on a path of righteousness, the response she receives from on high leads to a series of misadventures that troubles and perplex everyone around her—and will make you question just who Jesus is after all!

Originally performed as a series of monologues and songs to a few friends in her living room, Bad Girls Upset by the Truth became a sensation after Jo Carol started performing in public in 1989. Three years later, a group of well-known Austin musicians covered her songs, creating a best-selling album that won Jo Carol the award for Best Songwriter at the Austin Music Awards. An outrageous, hilarious, and heartbreakingly honest rendering of the restrictions society and western religion places on the creative, sexual, and bodily autonomy of women, Bad Girls is a fantastical mirror reflecting a cosmic version of Jo Carol’s life that you might be surprised (or not) to catch glimpses of yourself in.

‘Bad Girls Upset by the Truth’ will be produced and performed by another Texas native Lauren Meckel (who appeared in the Dunedin productions of ‘Throupledom’ and ‘Sylvia Plath’). Meckel is thrilled to introduce this little-known but timeless comedic gem to new audiences for the first time in three decades.

Trigger warning: suicide

Secured Entry Advance Ticket (SEAT) gives an audience member the security of having a reserved seat for $3 and they can then make their koha or donation at the venue before or after the show.

Dee’s Cafe & Bar, 403 Princes Street, Dunedin
FRI 22 – SUN 24 March 2019
07:00pm
GET TICKETS*
*Fees may apply

Secured Entry Advance Ticket (SEAT) 
SEAT gives an audience member the security of having a reserved seat for $3 and they can then make their koha or donation at the venue before or after the show.



Theatre , Solo ,


50 mins

Shares message in a strangely wonderful way

Review by Brenda Harwood 24th Mar 2019

The bright smile and friendly persona of performer Lauren Meckel carries her audience along on an increasingly bizarre ride in Bad Girls Upset by the Truth.

Meckel has revived this strangely engaging absurdist honky-tonk musical, created in the late 1980s by West Texan Jo Carol Pierce, and brought it to Dunedin Fringe Festival audiences.

The small, intimate basement space at Dee’s Cafe & Bar in Dunedin strikes the right note for this acoustic one-woman performance – part monologue and part concert.

Bad Girls Upset by the Truth starts out on a slightly confronting note, with seemingly casual and repeated references to suicide as a response to a range of trivial issues, but the absurdist nature of the piece soon leads us on a life journey like no other.

When the protagonist asks Jesus, “What are these boys for and what am I supposed to do with them?” the response sets her on a path of serial love affairs, misadventure and trouble.  

As its tale becomes stranger and stranger, Bad Girls Upset by the Truth is revealed as a funny-but-heartfelt cry against the issues of sexual freedom, slut-shaming, and bodily autonomy for women in Western societies.

The clever integration of songs within the show, each highlighting a specific point – from suicide to ‘The Borderline Tango’, helps to ground a fantastical tale in reality.
Alternately storytelling and singing while accompanying herself on acoustic guitar, Meckel is a delightful presence, whose cheeky smile and quips help to carrying her audience along.

All in all, Bad Girls Upset by the Truth succeeds in sharing its message, albeit in a strangely wonderful way

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