The Burlesque Hour written and directed by Moira Finucane and Jackie Smith. The Street Theatre, February 10-14, 8pm. Bookings 6247 1223.
The best burlesque is satirical and therefore both entertaining and thought-provoking. Traditionally it was witty and risque, humorous and titillating. The best of The Burlesque Hour lives up to traditional expectations, going even further to satisfy us in modern times.
The main device is each woman in turn, and one man, performing against the background of a soundtrack using songs like Let Go by Frou Frou, Everybody Wants to Touch Me as performed by Deborah Conway, or Total Eclipse of the Heart in the manner of Bonnie Tyler - 14 items altogether, many of them in the altogether, by four actors, Moira Finucane, Azaria Universe, Yumi Umiumare and the not so token man Paul Cordeiro.
Movement, costume (and the removal of costume), and props are used to create highly unusual symbolic meanings, ranging from the funny but obvious through the funny and quite unexpected, to the not so funny and very pointed. It would not be fair of me to describe examples, since that would undermine the surprise element which is essential to this kind of show. Suffice to say that one involves an animal in a role reversal, another is about drinking red soup sloppily, another about the female capacity to produce milk, and another about the tension of maintaining appearances.
This last, called Mouth Piece, and her later act beginning in a huge mediaeval martial kimono, for me showed Yumi Umiumare's extra level of skill and depth of interpretation, taking these points in The Burlesque Hour beyond the clever and effective into the realm of a higher theatrical art.
On a practical note, you can see more from the bleachers than from the cabaret style tables near and on the stage, be prepared for some liquid being splashed about in addition to your own wine or beer, and, if you are old and have tinnitus like me, take ear plugs to dampen the amplification. Oh, and if you are lucky, you'll get to eat a strawberry in the Swedish manner. Enjoy.
©Frank McKone, Canberra
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