Alright, so the Adelaide Fringe Festival is now in its third week and the city and its dwellers are pretty well settled in and comfortable with the madness the festival brings.
No longer is it a novelty to see performers spruiking their shows through the east end of the city. Nor is it a shock to see anywhere from one to twenty comedians during the course of a normal day, grabbing coffee, enjoying some normalcy with family away from the various pop up venues through the Garden of Unearthly Delights or at the Royal Croquet Club.
Sure, it’s a funny kind of normal we become accustomed to every Fringe but up until this week, there’s been something missing. The large and colourful Fringe Festival puzzle had been missing an integral jigsaw piece, or six incredibly well built and hilarious jigsaw pieces, if you will. BRIEFS officially made their Adelaide Fringe return at the Royal Croquet Club and just like that, the puzzle felt complete again.
Last season, the Brisbane company enjoyed a successful residency at the Croquet Club throughout the Fringe’s entire run but this year, they’ve landed for a more exclusive season following wildly successful stints in Perth and NZ. Tuesday night’s show introduced the Adelaide crowd to new cast member, James Welsby (aka Valerie Hex) and welcomed Mark ‘Captain Kidd’ Winmill back to the stage after enduring an injury that saw him step away from the live show while undergoing surgery.
As ringleader, performer and show emcee Shivannah worked her way up and down the catwalk of The Panama Club, it became clear very quickly for BRIEFS newcomers that this was not going to be a show that held back. There would be circus. There would be burlesque. There would be nudity. There would be incredible choreography and physical theatre that audiences the world over have now become familiar with and adore.
For those attending this year’s BRIEFS show for the second, third, whatever time, there are some new acts in the show that you’ll notice. Thomas Worrell steps up and is a prominent feature in this current BRIEFS line up; if there’s any one aerial/hoop performer you’re going to go out of your way to see perform this Fringe, it’s definitely going to be him. A master of body contortion, balance and aerial choreography, his pieces definitely had us walking out of the show was some vivid highlights in mind.
For an opening night, there wasn’t much I could pick at (and who, really, would go along to a show like this wanting to?) – the BRIEFS boys run a tight show and even when the unexpected happens (i.e. Louis Biggs accidentally almost sending a stage light straight into two ladies seated close to the catwalk), the cast maintains their fierce as fuck composure and works the hell out of their time remaining before the next change over.
Similarly to fellow BRIEFS Factory production Hot Brown Honey (which takes place in the neighbouring Menagerie tent), the BRIEFS cast celebrate some cutting and sharp talent and are unafraid of owning their sexiness, their range of performance backgrounds and diversity existing within the arts.
If this show proved to be the first time a punter experienced drag, if it was the first time they’d experienced a circus/burlesque fusion or if you were raffle winner Claire and would go on to experience your first body shot…it didn’t matter. The environment the cast establishes from the onset is one where sure, things get a bit raunchy and a lot raucous, but it’s a safe and accepting environment to enjoy a show in.
The choreography and the costumes are extravagant and memorable, while Shivannah’s struts and outfits on their own are enough to make any woman in the audience with leg envy #Jealousssss. The cast is wonderful when performing together or individually and it’s testament to not only a well-oiled show machine, but the level of confidence they clearly have in each other’s abilities, as well as their own.
Welcome back, boys. We’ve missed you too much.
Monkeys, tequila shots, yo-yos and everything else that comes with it.
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BRIEFS is back at the Royal Croquet Club in The Panama Club until March 14th. Grab tickets and information here.
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