★★★★
Adelaide Fringe. Ukiyo at Gluttony. 28 Feb 2023
Moist is about as homoerotic as the Fringe is ever going to get, and it’s great fun. Dressed in brightly coloured orange jock straps (most of the time!) and tight form-fitting lavender coloured leotards, two buff (and two not-so) lads strut their stuff and leave little to the imagination about what’s inside their provocative costumes, and which side they bat for! The whole thing is a joyous tease that firmly puts a smile on your face and leaves it there for a full hour!
Armed with spray bottles and bubble guns, they take to the stage and ensure the audience is gently moistened (!), and give a fearless display of circus antics that are a mix of lusty masculine strength, alluring grace, and high-camp silliness. There are fluorescent hula hoops, balancing tricks, human towers, a cyr wheel, beer keg tossing, and more!
There is a narrative of sorts, as one of the troupe forlornly searches for his former lovers hoping they can quench his thirst in a dystopian world where water has become beguilingly rare and is found in all sorts of attention-grabbing places. The narrative barely works, but who cares?! It’s the spectacle of colour, gymnastics, clowning, celebration of the male form, and out-and-out wacky silliness that matters!
The show is fast moving, and the banter with the audience is easy and never forced. The antics of the high-energy cast is underscored by disco lights and a funky soundtrack that includes fabulous gay anthems such as It’s Raining Men. How appropriate!
The show culminates in a fabulous display of dazzling and provocative body art as the cast seductively pour brightly coloured fluorescent liquids over their almost naked bodies as they provocatively pose upstage in a dimly lit setting.
It’s a risqué, sexy, and cheeky show – very cheeky – and the intimate venue ensures the cheekiness is always in your face, so to speak!
Kym Clayton
When: 28 Feb to 5 Mar
Where: Ukiyo at Gluttony
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
