Produced and
Directed by Elena Kirschbaum.
Canberra
Theatre Centre Playhouse 23 – 26th October 2019
Performance
on 23rd October reviewed by Bill Stephens
The
emergence of spiegeltents in Australia has also led to the emergence of adult circus
cabaret as a popular new genre. “Rouge” is an excellent example. Promising “a decadent blend of sensational acrobatics,
operatic cabaret and tongue in cheek burlesque” the show for the most part,
delivers on its promise.
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| Jessie McKibbin, Lyndon Johnson, Issie Hart, Liam DeJong, Maddison Burleigh, Paul Westbrook in "ROUGE" Photo: Jodie Hutchinson |
The attractive
cast of five skilled circus performers, Liam de Jong, Jessie McKibbin, Lyndon
Johnson, Maddison Burleigh and Paul Westbrook, each with their own impressive
repertoire of individual skillsets, have pooled their talents with those of
opera singer, Issie Hart, to devise a diverting and good-humoured little show
which would fit beautifully into a spiegeltent, but felt a little under-cooked in
the formal framework of a theatre. A fact emphasised by the uninspired and under-rehearsed
opening number which got the show off to a less than auspicious start.
However a
succession of cleverly devised acrobatic turns in which the attractively
costumed performers showcased their skills in solos or in various combinations,
performing skilful tumbling and
acrobatics utilising aerial bars and hoops, chairs and other apparatus, soon lifted the audience mood.
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| Issie Hart in "Rouge" Photo: David Power |
Red, a
subtle reference to the show’s title, was the predominant colour for the
costumes in the first half. Issie Hart displayed an impressive operatic
technique, and provided mobile spectacle in magnificent red gowns and
headdresses. Paul Westbrook contributed a cheeky male fan dance, and later
teamed with Lyndon Johnson for an impressive a straps routine. Jessie McKibbin
also teamed with Lyndon Johnson to perform an elegant Cyr wheel routine,
certainly one of the highlights of the evening.
Justifying
the “Adult” label, the raunchier second half of the show commenced with a sexy
ensemble routine featuring the full cast, costumed in black leather, engaging a
variety acrobatic same-sex couplings. More heat was provided by the fire-eating
act, a whip-cracking act, and some titillating full-frontal nudity in which one
of the cast, his identity protected by a lampshade on his head, managed to
recover his underpants while attempting to preserve his dignity with his hands.
Perhaps
losing something in translation from spiegeltent to theatre, “Rouge” on this occasion never quite achieved the
panache and decadence promised by its publicity. That aside, it never-the-less did provide an enjoyable
evening of enticingly packaged physical theatre.
This review also appears in AUSTRALIAN ARTS REVIEW. www.artsreview.com.au