We squeeze into, (and I do mean squeeze – not much room between tables here) into a darkened Nexus Arts Venue. At the rear of the stage, shrouded in darkness is a prone mermaid, trying to blend in and look inconspicuous.
And so it begins. Out comes our MC, Miss Demeanour, to introduce a show that highlights the talents of a dozen redheaded performers. We are promised a night of cabaret and burlesque, and over the next hour and a half, the performers deliver – a high octane, energetic and sassy performance with a nautical theme.
To begin with, our little mermaid is freed from her tail with the aid of two other nymphettes.
Then, to everyone’s surprise (and delight) the first burlesque performance. But it’s not what you expect. It’s actually a pirate, a male one. Talk about unexpected! The female members of the audience in particular loved it.
One of the mystifying things about his performance was his regular pulling of plastic bags out of various places. Naturally I was thinking, why? It seemed to detract from the performance. But there was a message there that you may get if you see the show – the penny dropping for me later in the performance.
In between dancing acts Miss Demeanour entertained the crowd in a duet, her on keyboard accompanied by a kickass drummer.
It was then on to a series of songs and burlesque performances that included more mermaids, lobsters, skeletons, amazing flexibility and pirates.
One of the highlights for me was the fire eater. No, I kid you not! In true blue carnival fashion, here was a pirate who was a bona fide side show performer.
The finale was a great message for redheads the world over, with all of the performers applying sunscreen liberally and rather sensuously I might add.
The show was a great high energy performance with a bunch of performers who appeared to be enjoying their show very much. And from the audience reaction, it was clear that the energy and excitement they conveyed was well received by the audience, who really loved it.
Reviewed by Shaun Turton.
Redhead Cabaret is at Nexus Arts Centre until 2 March 2018.
https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/the-redhead-cabaret-sirens-of-seduction-af2018
