Tag Archives: William Elijah Lewis

PRISCILLA THE PARTY!

★★★★★

HERE at Outernet

PRISCILLA THE PARTY! at HERE at Outernet

★★★★★

“An incredible night out.”

“Priscilla The Party” is joyous, tremendous musical fun. Based on the 1994 Academy Award winner “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert”, “Priscilla the Party” hails from Australia in 2006. It is a rip-roaring celebration of drag, queerness and camp musical theatre. Each scene is calibrated towards entertainment and intrigue from the start. The story follows ‘Tick’ (Owain Williams) as he travels across Australia to reach his wife (Kimberly Blake) and his child (a stooge) as part of a fabulous trio of drag queens travelling in a bus they christen “Priscilla”. Adam (Reece Kerridge) and Bernadette (Dakota Starr) accompany Tick as he travels throughout Australia battling homophobia, transphobia, making allies, and delivering hit after hit. The show is an immersive experience (developed and directed by Simon Phillips), with staging and actors moving throughout the crowd on the dancefloor. The set (Brian Thomson and Justin Nardella) and direction make great use of the atmosphere of a club with an impressive line up of dance hits from “Say a Little Prayer” to “Born This Way”. A tale of love, adversity and Aussie humour shines with amazing theatrical gravitas throughout.

Every cast member performs with outstanding energy, delivering a varied set of pop/dance songs in a jukebox musical for the ages. The quality of musical performance is high with remarkable talent on display throughout as Queens deliver ballads and romps with equal intensity and stage presence. Beautiful vocals draw us into the story and relay the emotions of the characters. The band are brilliant and you can tell they know they have the best gig in town (Musical Arrangements and Orchestration Stephen ‘Spud’ Murphy). The stage management team work tirelessly to coordinate movement of stages as they weave throughout the crowd. The sound design (Ben Harrison) includes familiar hits, punctuated by topical music in the breaks that ensure a continuation of the party. The multi-media venue makes use of video backgrounds (also Thompson and Nardella) and vibrant club lighting (Per Hörding). The show includes all the best parts of a drag show with all the precision and thought of a well-crafted musical (Musical arrangements and direction Steve Geere). A highlight are the fantastic costumes (Tim Chappel and Lizzy Gardiner) and wigs, delivering camp, classic and heightened drag in the best possible way.

Seated dining experiences are available, though dance floor tickets make up the bulk of audience members who get to join in the concert-like drag-show-esque party atmosphere. “Priscilla the Party” is stunningly unique and totally immersive, taking the audience on a hugely enjoyable road trip through Australia whilst delivering one spectacular party en route. The close to three hours playing time flies by as the colourful scenes progress in and around the gloriously camp ‘Cockatoo Club’. Arrive early to enjoy the full experience, as there are superb opening acts to enjoy. With drag queens and musical actors combining their strengths, “Priscilla The Party” makes for an incredible night out.


PRISCILLA THE PARTY! at HERE at Outernet

Reviewed on 24th March 2024

by Jessica Potts

Photography by Marc Brenner

 

 

 

 

Recently reviewed by Jessica:

HOSTAGE | ★★★★ | Etcetera Theatre | March 2024
APRICOT | ★★★★ | Theatre503 | March 2024
SARAH QUAND MÊME | | Drayton Arms | February 2024
AMUSEMENTS | ★★★★ | Soho Theatre | February 2024
WISH YOU WEREN’T HERE | ★★★ | Soho Theatre | February 2024
TWO ROUNDS | ★★★ | Jermyn Street Theatre | February 2024

PRISCILLA THE PARTY!

PRISCILLA THE PARTY!

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Trompe L’Oeil

Trompe L’Oeil

★★★

The Other Palace

TROMPE L’OEIL at the The Other Palace

★★★

Trompe L’Oeil

“an intriguing concept and one that will probably divide audiences, and lead to some interesting discussions”

It’s a tall order to expect an audience, while listening to a show’s musical number, to appreciate that certain lyrics are anagrams of the following line. Or that certain letters within those lyrics, if traced onto a sheet of paper, form a picture. The programme does devote a few pages of instructions for this lexical trickery, and often the words are projected high onto the back wall, but rather than being drawn into this distraction, the overall tendency is to just let it go over our heads. Nevertheless, at least we now know what an acrostic, or a lipogram is (google it).

The title suggests that all is not what it seems, and indeed there is an exaggerated surreal quality to Henry Parkman Biggs’ “Trompe L’oeil”. And like the artists it professes to emulate (Dali, Magritte, Escher…) there is more to see the longer you look. But rather than being given the freedom to make our own interpretations of the abstract mayhem, the message is very clear and one sided. We know where Biggs’ sympathies lie, even if we are never sure what story he is trying to tell.

There are many strands to the show – two that predominate. We have the rise and fall of Donald Trump, interwoven with what the poster tagline describes as ‘a queer love story’. The two are connected but in the same way that bedding plants and weeds might smother each other if left unattended. At the top of the show, Trump makes a deal with Vladimir Putin, after which Putin quite literally has Trump by the balls. Putin orchestrates Trump’s rise to power but only on the condition he can attach a remote-controlled clamp to his genitals which he tightens every time Trump strays away from his master plan. Both characters are larger than life and Sarah Louise Hughes’ Bond villain Putin (referred to as ‘The Imitator’) spars well with Emer Dineen’s cartoon buffoon Trump. Meanwhile two lovebirds Rip (a Republican in denial, played by Alex Wadham) and staunch Democrat Demi (Dominic Booth) eke out a ‘will-they-won’t-they’ scenario, complicated by the fact that Rip is implausibly unaware of Demi’s true gender.

“The ambition has to be admired, and the pace is frenetic, anarchic and chaotic”

Less a musical, more of a song cycle, the musical numbers intermix its influences, from cabaret to rap, to disposable pop. Delivered with high energy and soaring skill by the talented, fine-voiced ensemble they are catchy and instantly familiar. Although there is a tenuous thread connecting them, each number could be a stand-alone work in itself; although in a live setting we haven’t the time or inclination to analyse and pore over the intricacies. Like the overall concept, it is all just too clever for its own good and a touch self-indulgent.

The ambition has to be admired, and the pace is frenetic, anarchic and chaotic. The cast rise to the physical and vocal challenges with ease. It is larger than life, and totally bonkers. Yet despite the high entertainment value we are left with little to grip on to. The wider appeal is therefore constricted, which is a shame as there are some gems of observation, humour and satire to be found. But it is difficult to establish what this piece is trying to achieve. And it is a bit of a contradiction: it is bold, brash and funny but at the same time requires prior knowledge of the author’s writing technique. In some ways it appears progressive, yet it closes with the rather simplistic message that “we can disagree peacefully”.

The allusions to illusion in “Trompe L’oeil” are misleading – the show doesn’t quite match its title. But it is an intriguing concept and one that will probably divide audiences, and lead to some interesting discussions. Let’s hope they can ‘disagree peacefully’.

 


TROMPE L’OEIL at the The Other Palace

Reviewed on 29th September 2023

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Danny Kaan


 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

Dom – The Play | ★★★★ | February 2023
Ghosted – Another F**king Christmas Carol | ★★★★★ | December 2022
Glory Ride | ★★★ | November 2022
Millennials | ★★★ | July 2022

Trompe L’Oeil

Trompe L’Oeil

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