Just imagine, for a moment, a world where the answer to dismantling the patriarchy lies in a single, be-toothed vagina.
We open to a southern aspiring beauty queen, Beth Anne Scherm. A pageant princess, if you will. Beth Anne’s living in a world where she’s been told who and what she’s supposed to be. She shares her hopes. She shares her fears. She asks us to swim. We submit.
The other characters are each as diverse and deranged as the next, from a world you could never dare to conceive. From the most horrific, horny twins – gyrating gutturally in the manner of pornographic masturbatory nightmares, to a snake-stranded Medusa with love on her mind. There is the most ingenious use of a fake arm the world has ever known and the crunch of a florentine bitten dangerously close to a man’s ear. There is folklore, tomfoolery and feminist fury in the bones of this quite extraordinary show.
Dentata manages to make this fury funny, in a resplendently vivid depiction of the countless ways women have been, and still are, cut-down, curtailed, and controlled. It sits amidst a strong thread on female pleasure, seeking satisfaction whenever and wherever it’s wanted. There’s a taking back of a control, an unshackling of shame, a crackening of expectations. VanderVeen spreads her legs whenever she sees fit, concluding in a display of unashamed glory that is so magnificently powerful and also so exceptionally silly.
The puppets in this show, crafted by Eva Lansberry and Mae Merkle, are beautifully mad and exquisite creations; brilliantly woven into the show. The thought that has gone into the detail is quite marvellous.
VanderVeen breaks the fourth wall in joyful, delightfully weird ways which sucks the audience into her world. The spoken word, the singing. The sheer ingenuity. The emotion packed into this show is ripe.
The transitions could do with being a little tighter, and the start of the show doesn’t completely do justice to the insanity that emerges. On first look, Beth Anne’s story is probably the most ‘normal’, and therefore the least interesting. By the end of the show it becomes clear why, and the contrast is clarified. The ending to her tale is one of the best moments of the show. But those starting scenes matter, and could maybe do with a being a little shorter to get the audience on board quicker. But once they are on board? Oh boy, are they strapped in.
This reviewer sees upwards of sixty shows a year and this is quite the oddest thing she has ever seen, in the very best way. VanderVeen is a genuinely out-of-this-world, next-level performer. She’s chosen to focus on the flirtatious, furious mockery of bouffon for this show. The art form is physically and vocally demanding and VanderVeen summons and maintains a dark, demonic energy that few could find or foster. Her on-stage physicality is the purposeful antithesis of what is desired from the female form, and it’s very impactfully empowering to watch.
Dentata manages to be honest, horrific and hilarious in equal measure. It takes a high degree of artistry to entertain and exclaim in the same breath, and VanderVeen is the perfect storyteller for this quite vital tale. Miss this at your peril.
Reviewed on 19 May 2026. Runs to 20 May.
The Reviews Hub Star Rating
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9
