Due to the title, the more discerning theatre-goer might suspect this is not a piece of naturalism.
What it is, is a superb piece of nonsense.
Written by Charles Busch and directed by Samantha Young, this tale of two vampires whose rivalry spans the ages is seriously well performed silliness.
It can be easy for these sorts of shows to become sloppy. One wink at the audience too many and suddenly you’re sitting in the studio audience of The Footy Show.
But the performances from this entire cast are tight. This is top class nonsense. Hilarious, high energy and terrific fun.
Eliza Reilly and Nicholas Gell as the two tussling vampires excel (in what are easily the most truthful performances of Sapphic blood lust I’ve seen for millennia.)
This cast and creative team has built upon the outrageous script, adding even more jokes and some clever musical numbers. (Busch’s classic piece is like a well made sandpit; the gifted and youthful at heart will build in it something wonderful, while the strays will use it for other purposes.)
Being insufferably self important, I always write about what a piece makes me think about.
So what is Vampire Lesbians of Sodom about?
Is it just a welcome pause from Life’s earnestness?
Or is nonsense like this actually subversive?
A Mardi Gras show, Vampire Lesbians has the exuberance of the medieval carnival. And exuberance is in itself subversive; a reminder that dull complacency should not be allowed to reduce our mysterious, miraculous world.
Veronica Kaye
Vampire Lesbians of Sodom by Charles Busch
Produced by Brevity Theatre
Kings Cross Hotel til March 7
http://www.brevitytheatre.com.au/vampire-lesbians-of-sodom.html
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