Scotty the Blue Bunny in La Soirée. Photograph by Christina Holmes.
La Soirée is its own mini Fringe Festival within the FringeWorld celebration. In a non-stop 2 hour celebration of circus skills, dance, song, comedy, magic tricks and sideshow wonders, La Soirée encapsulates the essence of Fringe tent performances.
La Soirée travels the world with an ever-changing line up of performers, with the selection varying through a performance run. Some of the acts from the 2017 opening night will be familiar to Perth audiences who have visited La Soirée’s spiegeltent before, but others are new to FringeWorld, ready to present their polished performances.
Songstress Acantha Lang dazzles with her sparkling costumes and vocals that fill the tent. Flashing her bright smile in all directions, she works the whole room with classic belting vocal numbers such as ‘Think’ and ‘Proud Mary’, skilfully working with the customised lighting to raise energy levels and create a buzzing atmosphere.
Two contortion acts contrast with each other, reflecting diversity between performers’ skills. Returning Perth favourite Captain Frodo captivates with his enthusiastically shambolic antics featuring tennis racquets and dislocated shoulders, eliciting much hilarity and anguished groaning. Later, spinning on an outsized disco ball, Valerie Murzak calmly and gracefully makes extreme limb arrangement seem sensually easy and fluid.
Satya Bella’s hoop act is a study in controlled elegance, with clear and distinct choreography as her act progresses from a single hoop to many spinning every which way, creating consistently symmetrical patterns. A novel technical device in the hoops brings extra wow effect, but the well-structured set showcases Satya’s skills and deft precision in the artform.
High energy clowning marks comedic interludes from Marc and Svetlana, the Daredevil Chicken duo from Las Vegas, with remarkably quick costume changes, mouth to mouth banana juggling, acrobatic competence and slapstick nudity. Scotty the Blue Bunny is further comic relief, bringing the melancholy clown to the stage in skin tight shiny costume with some tuneful crooning and maudlin musings.
Sleight of hand takes a turn in a clever piece of magic-infused striptease from Lily Martinez. Simple vanishing manoeuvres with a red handkerchief suddenly shoot up several levels of difficulty as pieces of clothing fly away into the crowd, removing any hiding spots. As a performer, Martinez is charming with sight gags and witty choreography.
A feast of elegant strength is served in a range of styles. Local artist Sam Smith delights in presenting aerial silk routines, choreographed to a strong beat. Equally comfortable on the ground or in the air, Smith uses every direction of surrounding space to flip, turn and spin in a celebration of physical potential. Bret Pfister presents a gently nihilistic approach to aerial work, demonstrating a casual disdain for gravity or muscular limitations by ascending on his lyra and working through a range of poses and holds to the stripped back strains of an acoustic version of ‘Nothing Else Matters’. Astounding with debonair presentation and physique, Pfister holds every eye in the house as he precisely slides through grips and holds.
Hamish McCann proves that you don’t have to swing from the heights to demonstrate total physical control, superb muscle development and a sense of rhythm and timing. His ‘lamp post’ pole routine smoothly segues from a dapper ‘Dancing in the Rain’ to ‘Feelin’ Good’, as McCann revolves around the pole with insouciant aplomb and rippling torso on display to excellently sexy effect – but his hat stays on to the end.
The tight programming holds true all the way through, to a dazzling rollerskate finale from Leo and Ursula. La Soirée’s tiny central stage seats the front row close enough to have rollers whoosh over the heads of the attentive audience as the duo spin at speed, incorporating stunning acrobatic feats into an awesomely tight routine.
La Soirée is housed in the Edith Spiegeltent, on the grounds of Cathedral Square between the City of Perth Library and St Georges Cathedral. The tent has cabaret-style table seating, booths, ringside seats and standing room at the back by a bar – a range of experiences at a range of price points, but all offering a great night out. For those who are short of time but want a diverse Fringe outing, La Soirée offers some of everything, in a spiegeltent. For those who are new to Fringe performance, this is a great starting point for exploring the wider program. La Soirée nestles in with FringeWorld as a whirlwind experience through the weird and wonderful delights that mark the festival.
Rating: 4 1/2 stars out of 5
La Soirée
Presented by La Soirée Australia
The Edith Spiegeltent, Cathedral Square, Perth
13 January – 26 February 2017
Part of FringeWorld Festival 2017
Content Warnings:
Mild Coarse Language
Strong Nudity Content
Mild Sexual References Content
