Eugénie Rebetez shows the alienating contrast of a woman who wants to be more and is also at peace with who she is

Her full thighs clatter together. She shakes her bare arms, grinning at the trembling skin on her upper arms. She stomps furiously across the Theatre Kikker's playing floor, while her hefty body - dressed in a small, nondisguising black dress - emphatically bounces happily on all sides. You just have to dare. In her one-woman show 'Gina', Swiss theatre maker Eugénie Rebetez beyond all embarrassment. In the skin of Gina, Rebetez shows her own yearning for stardom, with plenty of self-mockery and absurdist humour. A quirky mishmash of mime, stand-up comedy, cabaret and contemporary dance.

Gina is a loser who daydreams about what it is like to be a diva. With childlike enthusiasm, she looks at herself. Gina marvels at her plump body and by chance discovers a talent for physical transformation. She loses herself in fantasy worlds. Rebetez shows this in short sketches with a number of small, almost careless actions. For instance, she stretches and plucks at her shiny white cardigan. She squeaks. Her cardigan sags until it hangs around her hips. She sinks her knees slightly, pulls her shoulders up a little, sticks out her neck and her butt back. And with a steely face, she walks on cackling - suddenly like idiot chicken.

Sometimes, the proud, singing 'Fat Swiss Diva' Gina suddenly awakens in the insecure Gina, strutting sensuously across the stage in some virtuoso show numbers. But just like the daydreaming, Rebetez óó takes this star power in stride. In a surreal, dark scene, lights seem to fly in Gina's mouth, as if she is eating the stars. Her singing, tight ballet steps and graceful hand gestures are also blown up to grotesque proportions each time after a serious beginning. Soon the diva spins whooping around her axis, only to fall deliciously ungainly to the ground. Her white flesh smashes on the black ballet floor, like throwing a steak on the kitchen counter.

Rebetez is a fascinating performer, with a body control that betrays thorough dance training. She effortlessly falls into a splits, walks across the stage upside down in a bridge on all fours, and possesses razor-sharp timing and expressive facial expressions. She also plays the trumpet just as easily or sings a sultry Edith Piaf-esque nightclub song.

Yet the most impressive thing about this performance is its concentration. You feel how Rebetez constantly scans audience reactions and therefore never loses herself in bickering. 'Gina' shows a woman who wants to be more, but at the same time is at peace with who she is. Rebetez makes this alienating contrast believable, hilarious and moving.

Daniel Bertina (www.danielbertina.nl)

Eugénie Rebetez: 'Gina'. Seen: Theatre Kikker, Friday 22 April. Still to be seen: Saturday 23 April.