MINOGUEUS SANCTUS

The Divine

★★★½

“often weirdly wonderful, like a chilled shot of chartreuse you didn’t know you needed”

“We’ve all already been Minogued,” says Hersh Dagmarr, kitted out in a perfect imitation of Kylie’s iconic Can’t Get You Out of My Head costume. Judging by the ripples of recognition that met almost every number, he may be right. With a pop career approaching four decades (plus the Neighbours years), Kylie has a longevity many would die for.

Which is, in fact, one of the premises of Minogueus Sanctus, the latest show from London-based French singer-songwriter Hersh Dagmarr at The Divine in Dalston. Dagmarr performs as an immortal Weimar-era cabaret artiste with a side hustle in vampirism. It’s a fabulous conceit that allows Kylie’s chart-toppers to be filtered through a decadently chilling lens. Offering a glimpse into the cabarets of Paris and Berlin, we get an interpretation of Can’t Get You Out of My Head to the distinctive tinkling of “Money Money” from Kander and Ebb’s Cabaret. Dagmarr even sings a verse in German, which thoroughly wows the crowd.

For Dagmarr, age is nothing but a bourgeois social construct — you can just say no! (Though a smidge of bloodsucking may be required to secure the outcome.) After this revelation, numbers such as On a Night Like This, It’s in Your Eyes, and even Better the Devil You Know, the latter sung by accompanist Karen Newby, take on a more villainous air, with the line “I’ve been watching you lately…” assuming a new, darker meaning.

Hersh Dagmarr’s Weimar-era treatment of Minogue the chanteuse is inspired. But it’s not always clear whether Minogueus Sanctus is sincere or a send-up. Dagmarr performs with such unwavering seriousness that the audience is often unsure when to laugh. Moments of physical comedy, like an exaggerated squat in Slow, land well, but others feel unintentionally earnest, more X Factor audition than arch cabaret. A bit more wink and nudge would serve the material better.

After a short interval, during which most of the audience seemed to be debating whether they could name any more Kylie hits, Dagmarr returns in gold sequins for a stronger second half. Highlights include a haunting take on Where the Wild Roses Grow, a mashup of Mack the Knife and I Believe in You, and summer 2023’s viral hit Padam Padam, delivered in the smoky spirit of Edith Piaf. These numbers marry theatrical flair with real musical ingenuity, bringing the show’s promise fully into focus.

There’s little narrative thread in the chatter between songs, but that’s part of the cabaret tradition: character and charisma over plot. What Minogueus Sanctus lacks in narrative cohesion, it makes up for in atmosphere and audacity. It’s not always campy enough to be fully funny, nor sincere enough to be moving — but it’s often weirdly wonderful, like a chilled shot of chartreuse you didn’t know you needed.

Tag Archives: MINOGUEUS SANCTUS

MINOGUEUS SANCTUS

★★★½

The Divine

MINOGUEUS SANCTUS

The Divine

★★★½

“often weirdly wonderful, like a chilled shot of chartreuse you didn’t know you needed”