Adelaide Cabaret Festival 2011
Space Theatre, 11 to 12 June
The art of drag has persisted through decades of prejudice and misunderstanding, performing to a mostly niche market until achieving acceptance and appreciation in the wider community during the 1990’s. This popularisation came in part thanks to movies such as of Priscilla Queen of the Desert and The Birdcage, both of which featured sympathetic portrayals of homosexual and transsexual individuals, thus helping to introduce LGBT themes to a mainstream audience.
Today, if the Adelaide Cabaret Festival’s Drag audience is anything to go, attending such a performance sees you nestled amongst a wonderfully varied crowd. It’s a nice feeling to look around and see so many who would seem unlikely attendees to a show comprised of men spectacularly transformed into Cabaret divas, powering their way through a set of techno-fied tunes.
This high-energy show is full of glitter-sprayed Queens, fabulous frocks and great tunes. These girls look like they are having trick-bags of fun, and its infectious - you'd have to be blind and deaf to not be laughing and clapping along.
If we’re completely honest, it's 100 minutes of the pretty much same thing, but they keep hitting the spot with the audience as each number receives rapturous applause. The costumes are a gorgeous extravaganza of feathers and shiny bits, and the support dancers are a sight to behold (check them out ladies - worth the ticket price alone!).
The crass and comedic hostess-ing of multi DIVA Award-winning Portia Turbo went down a treat, with a repertoire including Adelaide-specific set of wonderfully low- brow puns.
It’s funny, cleverly written and entertaining, though the quality does vary between acts. The highpoints, including Bohemian Polka and Kylie Show, were cheeky and hilarious, but in the lesser numbers the choreography needed fine tuning. The pre-recorded laughter and applause that accompanied some of the tracks was a little off-putting, mainly because the acts more than stand on their own.
You'll have your favourite Showgirl by the end (my vote goes to Minnie Cooper) but they're all wonderful at what they do, and you can't help but imagine their lives outside of drag. What do they look like grabbing the paper and some milk from the servo on a Sunday morning? One would love the chance to sit and down and have a chat, no doubt each has a life story worth publishing.
Depending on what floats your boat, you may or may not laugh all the way to the end. As long as you come in possession of a sense of humour and an open mind however, you're in for a fun night out!
Nicole Russo
