Decadent is right! Crank a thesaurus through a laundry mangle and you still wouldn’t find a better word to describe such an exciting, entertaining, and undeniably exothermic show as Bite Club: 2nd Serve than decadent.
A glorious melding of song, circus, comedy, raunch, burlesque, drag, pumps, acrobatics, and acrobatics in pumps – Briefs Factory have built their new show again in collaboration with the extraordinary Sahara Beck and her band.
In a burst of light, song, feather fan, and a tsunami amount of charisma, the full ensemble claim the Playhouse stage as their own. Led by host and MC, Shivannah (Fez Faanana), Bite Club: 2nd Serve moved from highlight to – with multiple instances of captivating aerial artistry – higher-lights, a beautiful weaving of music and physical performance.
Rowan Thomas joined Sahara in front of the bandstand for a wonderful early vignette. Rowan’s character work playing drunk in one moment was almost as breathtaking as his acrobatics on the cyr wheel. His display of gyroscopic wooing was not the only time the audience held their collective breath in amazement.
And then there was Mark ‘Captain Kidd’ Winmill, combining trapeze with Marie Antoinette’s version of Dita von Teese’s martini glass that threatened to have many of us walking into the confessional on Sunday (the pout each time before dropping back in the wash was everything).
For the most reflective and obviously political number, Sahara and Shivannah take the spotlight or rather one each. The spotlights used so effectively throughout the show become something else here – the lines that neatly and quietly inside so many wish our expression and identity would keep inside of. And in a simple act of defiance, they demonstrate not every routine requires the death-defying to be imbued with strength and grace.
Do yourself a favour and buy a ticket and – when there – then buy a raffle ticket (trust me). Queer joy is an act of resistance, and the joy in Bite Club: 2nd Serve is in abundance.
Bite Club: 2nd Serve
Playhouse – Arts Centre Melbourne, 100 St Kilda Road, Melbourne
Performance: Wednesday 25 September 2024
Season continues to 29 September 2024
Information and Bookings: www.artscentremelbourne.com.au
Image: Briefs Factory presents Bite Club: 2nd Serve (supplied)
Review: David Collins