The Divinyls’ Chrissy Amphlett was the kind of rock star we just don’t make anymore: brashly subversive, mercurial, brightly burning and gone all too soon. She grew out of the dick-swinging pub rock scene of the late 70s but retained a punk feminist edge throughout her career, a sense of danger and defiance. Actor Sheridan Harbridge attempts to revive Amphlett’s spirit in this part-biographical tour, part-tribute concert, which is a loving – if fragmentary and uneven – panegyric to a lost rock goddess.
When approaching this kind of material, a performer can aim for a precise and mannered recreation of every vocal tick and facial expression or settle for something more suggestive and impressionistic. Amplified opens with a solid, energising version of I’ll Make You Happy, and it’s immediately clear that Harbridge has opted for the latter approach. She borrows some of Amphlett’s inflections and vocal mannerisms but we’re aware we’re watching Harbridge channel an attitude rather than fully submerging herself into character. This is both Amplified’s charm and limitation.
