“she is achingly cool from the moment she rocks up in a leopard print coat and huge sunglasses”
“An eye for an eye I deserve to die” the chilling final words of Ruth Ellis echo through a room lit only by flickering lights as a singer in a feathered cape tails off her belter of a last note. Welcome to ‘The Sinners Club’.
Presented as the live recording of a concept album about Ellis, the last women to be hanged in Britain, ‘The Sinners Club’ is wickedly unconventional with incredible musical performances. Ellis, who shot her unfaithful lover David Blakely in 1955, is embodied by singer-songwriter Lucy Rivers who also wrote the show. As the lead singer of The Bad Mothers she is achingly cool from the moment she rocks up in a leopard print coat and huge sunglasses. Her chemistry with the band members and the rest of the audience is electric and her performance is enrapturing for the entire 90 minutes. The small moments of stand-up like repartee between songs are delightful and her sharp quips get huge laughs. As if this weren’t impressive enough she also plays the guitar, piano and the violin in various musical numbers.
The space has been transformed into a recording studio complete with drinks cart and mismatched rugs. In the corner is a vocal booth from which our feisty singer argues with the recording editor, who exists only as a bodiless voice through the speakers. From this cell-like booth what start as creative difficulties begin to mirror Ellis’ desperate pleas for her lover to be faithful. Photos of Ruth Ellis are illuminated on the wall and recordings of her voice play on a loop at various points, giving the unsettling impression that she is haunting this retelling of her own story.
This is not a straight-forward retelling of Ellis’ life, and the singer weaves details from her own life into musical numbers and vignettes that require the audiences to piece events together. The three-man band supporting this musical endeavour are brilliant at reacting and performing with Rivers without detracting too much attention from her. Their collective energy means that even in sombre moments the pace doesn’t lag. An acoustic country song about Ellis suffering from her lover’s friend’s disdain is a particularly good number performed as the band sits in a circle providing harmonies.
Produced by Gagglebabble, Theatr Clwyd and The Other Room, The Sinners Club was captivating throughout and I was utterly blown away by Lucy Rivers and The Bad Mothers. You won’t leave knowing every detail of Ruth Ellis’ life but the lasting impression of the piece is far more powerful than facts alone.
“To be daring in Soho is certainly not an easy feat, but Pecs manages to bring something new and different to an inundated fringe market”
I was expecting Pecs to be just like any other cabaret show; dance routines, stand-up comedy, lip syncing and live music; but the drag king aesthetic and the political undertones permeating the piece demonstrate a thoughtful and frankly unmissable night of promotion and activism. Pecs isn’t simply a happy jaunt into eighties nostalgia, it makes witty and relevant links to eighties politics and events, encouraging the audience to foster their own inner punk rock spirit and make a difference outside of the boundaries of the Soho theatre.
Pecs features nine drag kings who, throughout the evening, perform a number of acts ranging from live music to stand up comedy. The calibre of performance is excellence, truly drawing on the showmanship demonstrated by some of our much loved pop-icons, we meet with fantastic impressions of Bowie, Prince and George Michael. The chorus lip-sync numbers are flawlessly choreographed with the necessary cheesy dance moves, bringing back a time of fun and shameless narcissism that is instantly recognisable. The live music performances are phenomenally performed, with particular mention to the opening number, a remix of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody; my only issue to raise is a couple of audio faults that occasionally undermined the fantastic vocals of the cast.
With only moveable set and props, narrative is provided by the show’s compere, Cesar Jently (Kit Griffiths). Pulling apart ideals of white masculinity, Griffiths gives a fantastic and empathic performance, reading and responding to the audience as well as any MC should and seamlessly tying the acts together with a through line of comparisons between eighties sociopolitical events and those of the modern day; the Brixton riots, the AIDS Crisis and Margaret Thatcher are all invoked.
For me, the most striking moment of the piece was the ‘Black Power’ act by Drag King Cole (Temi Wilkey). Leading us through a montage of protest, government speeches, rap lyrics and police audio footage, Wilkey brought modern day racial politics and prejudices to the forefront of the piece with relentless courage, leaving much of the white middle-class audience of the Soho theatre speechless. The boldness with which this performance takes place is truly stunning, withdrawing from the previous tongue-in-cheek comedy around masculinity and prejudice, the audience are thrown into the realities of our current political climate and the consequences that follow.
To be daring in Soho is certainly not an easy feat, but Pecs manages to bring something new and different to an inundated fringe market. Under the guise of light humour and cheesy pop, Pecs is a piece that both forces its audience to confront the issues that we hide from and empowers us all to put up a fight and make a change.
