Review: ADELAIDE CABARET FESTIVAL 2016: THE BIRDS Delves Deep Into Cabaret's Heart

Reviewed by Barry Lenny, Thursday 23rd June, 2016

Created and directed by Moira Finucane and Jackie Smith, The Birds is a combination of genres: burlesque, circus, music, dance, and song, and all firmly rooted in the German Kabarett of the Weimar Republic era, between the wars. It is subversive, strongly feminist, and makes socio-political comments. Adelaide audiences are familiar with the intense work of Finucane and Smith from previous production of The Glory Box and The Burlesque Hour.

The Birds does all of this in a unique way, combining the talents of several performers. Alongside Moira Finucane are Clare St. Clare, Rockie Stone, Mama Alto, Holly Durant, and Miss Chief. Together they take the theme into dark places, even though some outfits are bright and colourful, like the bird of paradise, there is more of Hitchcock's birds, or Poe's raven about this performance, as the artists take us for a walk on the Gothic side.

Finucane first appears wearing gloves with greatly extended fingers, like the featherless wings of some fearful creature from a nightmare. Her monologues disturb, provoke thought, and challenge the audience, with the influence of Dadaism, and her transformations during the performance are captivating. This, like past Finucane and Smith productions, is a stunner.

Vocals are provided by Clare St. Clare and countertenor, Mama Alto, accompanied at the piano by Miss Chief. St. Clare's rich voice and dark underscoring is perfectly balanced by that of Mama Alto high clear voice. Mama Alto is a marvellous counterpoint to Finucane's movements and poetic speeches, and Miss Chief is a visual as well as aural attraction as her fingers skip across the keys in a dance of their own.

Rockie Stone brought her aerial circus skills to the performance with breathtakingly beautiful work on the trapeze and ropes. She combines sensuality and strength in a fascinating display that seems to defy gravity. Dancer and choreographer, Holly Durant, adds some amazing movement to the ensemble, another line to the complex structure of each segment.

Finucane and Smith have given Adelaide the premiere of their new show, and we accepted it with a great deal of applause. People were talking about it for some time after, which would please the people involved no end, because that is part of the intent of their work, to encourage thought and discussion, and they achieved that. Hopefully Adelaide will have a return season for those who missed out on tickets this time around.

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