Love, that powerful emotion which has inspired many ballads (and anti-ballads), is the subject of this Cabaret Fringe show which sets out to explore “what some people shouldn’t do for love”.

MJ (Mary-Jane Hendry) takes to the stage as “Jo”, a seasoned jazz singer with a tragic (and somewhat clichéd) tale of friendship, love, loss and apparently revenge, although the revenge aspect of the story is less obvious.  Together with band The Blue Progression, she presents a series of stories, each one accompanied by songs from singers including Nick Cave and Britney Spears.

This attempt to fuse jazz with modern pop songs delivers some interesting mixed results. While the band does a reasonable take on Nick Cave’s “Red Right Hand” and The Doors’ “People are Strange”, its reinvention of the Britney Spears hit “Toxic” leaves much to be desired.

An extended opening number allows band members Stephen Stone (guitar), Andrew Vince (saxophone), Tom Stehlik (drums), David Bentley (bass guitar) and David Fletcher (trumpet) to showcase their impressive skills, as do a series of solos throughout the night.

Hendry channels the stereotypical “suffering artist” to create Jo and, while she is obviously at home on stage, her voice was often drowned out by the music on opening night; it was also a struggle to hear lyrics and song titles. The crowded front room of the Whitmore Hotel provided its own challenges, with the show as times seeming to become little more than background noise against the voices from those dining and drinking in the room.

Sweet Revenge will play at The Whitmore Hotel again on June 12 and 19 as part of the Cabaret Fringe Festival.