Cabaret Décadanse
The Studio, Sydney Opera House
The puppets in Cabaret Décadanse have attitude, they have a lot of rouge and they have a wardrobe that would make Liza Minnelli blush.
Their masters (or servants) Enock Turcotte and Serge Deslauriers bring the puppet divas out one by one to perform jazz, blues and samba classics in a drag like performance that is hilarious. 
Puppets, in a similar way to clowns, is an element of theatre that carries you back to your childhood. It’s the suspension of disbelief - you can see the hands and strings attached, but the magic of their world, their faces and their characteristics is too fantastic to ignore.
Turcotte and Deslauriers, the Canadian puppeteers behind the elegantly gregarious puppets capture the essence of smoky French lounges and sultry burlesque performances. For those that saw snippets of their skill and humour during the Sydney Festival La Clique season at the Spiegeltent will not be disappointed by the expanded version of their show.
The adult-only characters of Conrad the French transvestite, Lorraine the old madame, Kiko the lusty Latino and the seductress Chica are just some of the characters that come on to woo their audience. The skill and expertise of the SOMA show is not only the characters but also the skill and sleight of hand that Turcotte and Deslauriers use in delivering the performances.
It is a puppetry performance that is unafraid to show the strings and the mechanics of puppets. With that element plainly in sight it is enough to let the puppets capture your imagination and take you off to the slightly seedy world of decadence.
12 - 23 February $27 – 35
www.sydneyoperahouse.com 02 9250 7777
Thursday, 21 February 2008
Review: Cabaret Décadanse
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2 comments:
I was disappointed by this show.
I'd expected so much after loving the intimate La Clique performances but felt the show lacked variation and got lost in the larger space. [I was in the back row and audience members nearer to the front were exhibiting greater enthusiasim that those around me.]
The night seemed to find it's 'house style' and not vary from it much and could have taken it's 'adult themes' to more interesting extremes. It all seemed a bit tepid and tame.
I felt the marketing department had created an expectation of more daring ideas than was part of the show. Not that I'm after puppet-porn but there are ideas to be explored that were left safely alone. I caught myself looking at my watch about half an hour in.
The skills of the performers are exceptional. The way those guys work together is a wonder to behold...but like Niagara Falls I can only see the same thing for so long before I want something different.
Maybe the nuances were getting lost at the back - those puppets are kind of boutique in size. I kept hoping that they'd bring out an enormous puppet to play with and show us a different set of skills.
Still, I do love what the Opera House is doing at the Studio. Interesting and exciting work...perhaps just not the best theatre space for that show this time.
I do know what you mean Christopher. Discussing the play afterwards, I think that it may have been a problem with the Studio.
The intimacy of the Spiegeltent is pretty hard to beat. Combined with a lighting design that was not intimate enough, exposing a little too much of the puppet-masters in a space that was to vast... perhaps?
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