Well the big purple cow may have gone up north for a while but that doesn’t mean the fun is over on the South Bank and taking up residence in the Spiegeltent for the next twelve weeks are a group of talented chaps from Australia who plan to totally blow your mind as they take you to a galaxy far, far away. Welcome to Briefs: Close Encounters.
Sometimes you can gauge the type of show you are about to see by the audience. And the first thing to notice about this group was how excited they were. The queue to get into the tent started about half an hour before the doors opened. Lots of very excited looking people stood laughing together waiting to be let in. Once in, people who had seen the Briefs boys before headed to their favourite seats while everyone milled around – all the seating is unallocated. My companion and I managed to grab a couple of seats in the front row and were prepared for anything.
The lights went down and, before anything else happened, there was an almighty cheer from the audience. Then the familiar five notes from Close Encounters started up accompanied by lights and the show started.
The next hour was an absolute blur. The six, muscular and very uninhibited performers, led by the strikingly beautiful Fez Fa’anana, perform a show which is an astounding mixture of acrobatics, gymnastics, modern dance, burlesque, striptease and high camp. However, that’s not to say that this is a gay show. There is a beauty to Briefs that transcends sexuality and makes it suitable – apart from the odd ‘F’ word – for everyone. Straight, gay or somewhere on the spectrum in between, Close Encounters has something for everyone and nobody is left out.
Just on a technical level, the skill exhibited by the performers is exceptionally high. For example, could you perform a strip whilst spinning off a rope high above the stage? Me neither but Mark ‘Captain Kidd’ Winmill does with a grace and style that takes the breath away. Mix this technical skill with a real flair for showmanship and you begin to understand why Briefs is so good. As with all things acrobatic or gymnastic or circus related, spot on timing is a must. However, one of the most amazing demonstrations of timing, which really demonstrated the immense attention to detail of the show, involved a rabbit and some alarm clocks. These were very short scenes but the ability to synchronise every movement of the rabbit with the alarms ringing and do so with such ease must take hours and hours of practice. One portion of a second out and the illusion is ruined.
With such talented performers on the stage, it’s hard to pick out a personal favourite but, I will. Juggler Louis Biggs, the youngest of the troupe, is my choice. He looks amazing, dances, juggles, does a Rubik’s Cube one-handed and even throws a little science in. And while doing all of this, Louis manages to spectacularly flirt with every member of the audience he makes eye contact with.
Without giving too much more away, I have to conclude with two things. Briefs: Close Encounters is a truly awesome mixture of styles and skills that will entertain and enthrall you in equal measure. And secondly, when you go to see it, buy a raffle ticket. You may not win but if you do, the prize will be so worth it.
Dawid Minnar Janine Ulfane – Photograher credit Alixandra Fazzina. “Survival of the fittest” is a phrase that originated from Darwinian evolutionary theory as a way of describing the mechanism of natural selection. Which means that even in the most inhospitable of placers, life will find a way – even if at times, you may look and think what’s the point? For example, in South Africa, the aloe plant is considered one of the country’s most powerful, beautiful and celebratory symbols. It survives out in the wild when everything else is dried. At the end of everything, the aloe is still there. And it is this survival that is at the heart of Athol Fugard’s A Lesson From Aloes which has returned to the UK and is currently in residence at the Finborough Theatre. Set in South Africa in 1963, where apartheid is at its height and the citizens are living in a paranoid police state. The play revolves around a middle-aged left-leaning couple – Afrikaner Piet Bezuidenhout (Dawid Minnaa...
Since 1912, the Blackburn Musical Theatre Company has been entertaining the theatre going folks of this Lancashire town with their annual musical production. In that time, they have covered the vast array of musical theatre from their first production - Sunday - through to their latest - Hello Dolly - which I caught at the Blackburn Empire Theatre. Dolly Gallagher Levi (Sue Chadwick) is a woman that likes to meddle, or as she puts it, arrange things. Whatever you need doing, Dolly is the person for the job. And right now, she is the talk of turn of the century New York, having brought together Mr Horace Vandergelder (Kris Wlodarczyk), the well-known half-a-millionaire and Mrs Irene Molloy (Laura Mitchell) a widowed millener. Their engagement and subsequent marriage seems pretty much sewn up though neither is marrying for love. Horace, as he tells his Chief Clerk, Cornelius Hackl (Ryan Coe), and Assistant, Barnaby Tucker (Fletcher Illingworth), is looking fo...
Since July 2014, I've seen and reviewed 588 shows altogether. 2017 was a fairly quiet year with a total of 132 shows visited by yours truly. So, in the best traditions of end of the year ideas, here is my list of the top 10 shows that I've seen this year. Please remember, this is my list not anybody else's and if you don't agree with the pick, well, what can I say? 1. Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Bridewell Theatre This story of friendship and hope took two drag queens and a trans woman from Sydney to Alice Springs, in a big pink bus. Along the way, the met new friends and face rampant homophobia. SEDOS brought every element of the show together beautifully, and to a standard that you would expect to see in the West End. Sold out virtually as soon as it was announced, this was the ‘must see production of the year. 2. La Cage aux Folles, New Wimbledon Theatre This is was a touring production of a show that demonstrates the importance of family a...
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