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“I don’t know what to expect, and that’s exciting” an viewers member mentioned as we had been queuing up for the opening night time of Naked & Dangerous, the newest enterprise from Luck and Schooney, a veteran inventive duo specialising in Dance Theatre and Cabaret. The present’s description is transient and enticingly common, promising a cabaret present that may discover sexual taboos and physique positivity.
As a part of Pride and Summer at Q, the venue was bustling. As the viewers waited for the present to begin, individuals had been dancing of their seats, drinks in hand, to bassy pop numbers (reminiscent of Whethan and Dua Lipa’s ‘High’) as a hum of pleasure and expectation coursed by way of the room. This anticipation was solely heightened by a stony-faced James Luck, one half of Luck and Schooney, seated alone on stage, bathed in pink gentle. The pre-show combine moved from gradual and grungy to punchy pop tracks, calling to thoughts the dimly lit corners of a dance flooring. I jotted down a observe that I guess Kim Petras and Sam Smith’s synthy and sultry hit ‘Unholy’ would function sooner or later.
I used to be confirmed proper within the first three seconds. As the primary resounding notes of the choir struck up, the solid hit the stage. White-shirted ladies á la Risky Business (Ellyce Bisson, Zoe Kelly, Amanda Macfarlane, Colette Winks) filtered previous and across the chair that held Luck, going through a black-clad Rebekkah Schoonbeek-Berridge (Schooney) hanging a formidable ‘Madam’ determine. The dancers instantly started to ‘perform’ for Luck’s ‘Boss’, establishing a basic, heteronormative membership scene fantasy. The scene progressively unfolded, evolving as two male dancers (Josh Morris, Kenzo Vuibert) entered, however equally submitted themselves to Luck’s slothful eye.
Forwardness of sexual considering is just not part of Kiwi tradition, and the viewers was initially silent, unsure of easy methods to react – a number of chuckles as Luck mimed snorting cocaine off one of many male dancer’s our bodies. Most merely watched, a curious sense of engagement and unease palpable within the theatre as a extremely gendered sexual energy dynamic performed out on stage. Flipping the facility steadiness rapidly, the dancers pulled Luck from his throne and started to strip him naked. Fulfilling the promise of the present’s title, the solid then took a unadorned Luck and used fireplace efficiency to set the highest of his head on fireplace.
After the fireplace, the viewers started to heat, the uncertainty and occasional whoop reworking into huge cheers by the tip of the second quantity (The Pussycat Dolls’ ‘Buttons’). A jumpsuit-cladded Schoonbeek-Berridge led a playful BDSM-forward dance quantity, casting a understanding wink on the viewers earlier than imitating hanging the blindfolded males together with her using crop. The viewers laughed and cheered as an viewers member was chosen to obtain the identical playful therapy, whispered directions leading to amusing yoga-like cat-cow reactions to the using crop.
The present is surprisingly humourous. Cheeky is one of the best ways to explain it, each actually and figuratively. Luck, Morris and Vuibert have the viewers in stitches as they play with drag in overly-large but ineffective ballgowns to Tom Jones’ ‘Delilah’. Simulated intercourse acts construct till they’re comically overblown, with one memorable set-piece revisited with a twist the viewers went loopy for. After the preliminary discomfort fades, the viewers cheer loudly, snort and clap all through the whole present.
No matter the viewers’s response, whether or not it’s silence, shock or laughter, the acts on stage proceed confidently of their audacity, magnificence and style. Naked and Dangerous, as a present that explores intercourse and need and energy, has an attention-grabbing commentary on voyeurism. Staging a cabaret present in an end-stage Rangatira at Q Theatre does one thing thought-provoking in lifting the shape from the membership/restaurant/on line casino context and putting it on a most important stage. At first there’s a slight disconnect, as the kind of efficiency the viewers witnesses feels nearly misplaced from the darkish surrounds of a nightclub, the place the performers can filter in and across the viewers. Yet the staging calls for you take note of the performers, and doesn’t permit for the standard distractions of a cabaret setting. They are the attraction, not the sideshow. You’re right here for his or her act, we’re right here for them. This delicate change of energy – who’s watching whom, who’s there for whom – is subtly toyed with all through the present. A giant contribution to that is the immensely intelligent lighting design by Zane Allen – at occasions revealing and highlighting, or hiding and obscuring – directing you the place to look and exposing the viewers when they might not need to be seen. It is a refined cat and mouse sport, of chases and glimpses, masterfully constructing a way of environment, a commentary on energy and energy constructions, while nonetheless placing on a charming and uproarious present.
Whilst risqué the present is just not uncomfortably specific for the common viewers member, and while you do expertise nudity and hazard, the present extra explores the artwork and the stress which you could create from these two ‘hooks’. For a present that proclaims it explores sexual taboo, it’s surprisingly restrained, the administrators of the present having an ideal command of the road they’re strolling.
The present is a delight from begin to end and it’s tough to choose highlights. An ethereal veil dance to Beyonce’s ‘Sweet Dreams’ builds to a puff inducing conclusion. Zoe Kelly impressed in an aerial pole-dance to Billie Eilish’s ‘Happier than Ever’, while Ellyce Bisson adopted with a equally unimaginable aerial hoop routine. These lovely shows of athleticism wrought with the underlying pressure of mentioned aerial Circus acts had been a few of the most jaw-dropping moments of the present. With the varied lip-synced dances, I began to hope for a vocal efficiency and was not dissatisfied by a susceptible rendition of Adele’s ‘To Make You Feel My Love’ by Colette Winks. The performers create little vignettes, moments of fantasy, all through the present, the place the narratives play out strongest of their partnered acts – probably the most emotionally highly effective being a lyrical dance between Luck and Vuibert, silhouetted onstage by flashlights.
Naked & Dangerous is a celebration of the human physique and bodily autonomy. In a present about need, it was significant to see all our bodies – and significantly bigger our bodies – celebrated by the solid AND the viewers. More. Please! The range of the present is introduced with out remark, creating a novel and joyfully validating expertise for all orientations.
The present encompasses what good cabaret does – love, management, pleasure and need. There is a transparent data and deep appreciation of the types of cabaret, expressed by a gifted and charismatic solid. The belief between the performers is obvious onstage all through the present and illuminates how basic a side that’s to the BDSM components the present performs with. As trite as it’s to say – there’s one thing in it for everybody, in the event that they’re open sufficient to attend. The present is humorous, lovely and thrilling – a fantastic night time out with a killer soundtrack.
Naked & Dangerous performs Q Theatre Rangatira 22-25 February, 2023 as a part of Auckland Pride.