Briefs continues at London Wonderground until 24 September.
Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
The filthy-tongued Shivannah is our host for Briefs – a sexy, raunch-packed (and six-packed) night of swaggering trannies, spry boys and a banana-chomping monkey man. Our bearded babe – aka New Zealand-born Samoan ringmaster Fez Fa’anana – turns the air electric blue with her wry asides and finger-flipping attitude as she introduces a sextet of circus performers who literally bend over backwards to please the baying audience.
Briefs is the brainchild of a Brisbane-based collective of acrobats, jugglers, dancers and aerialists who, since 2008, have flirted outrageously with audiences as they perform their slick circus acts. These boys – seven in total at this London outing – may be scantily clad (at times, the only thing they’re wearing is their eyeliner!) and strut around the stage like Ru Paul at a Cirque du Soleil show, but don’t be fooled: they’re the real thing, demonstrating genuinely impressive stagecraft and proving that Australia is producing the very best – or at least most innovative and entertaining – circus acts in the world.
In this 90-non-stop-minute bacchanal, staged in the Spiegeltent at London Wonderground to a throbbing soundtrack, the boys in Briefs take traditional circus acts – aerial hoop and silks, juggling, magic and acrobatics – and cross-breed them with Priscilla Queen of the Desert chic and burlesque (indeed, ‘boylesque’) sauciness. There’s also a lot of sequins, lip-synching and high-heeled sashaying thrown in for good measure. If the cavortations of ripped young men in their Calvin Kleins and high heels is your idea of a good night out, then you’ll love Briefs. It’s outrageously good fun.
The action kicks off with a beautifully choreographed and genuinely classy seven-man fan dance that, like most of the acts, sees the entire ensemble stripped down to their tighty whities. It ends with the headline act Mark ‘Captain Kidd’ Winmill – winner of the 2011 Las Vegas King of Burlesque crown – swinging from suspended straps into and out of an onstage fountain, soaking the first few rows of the audience. Sit in the front rows and you will get wet – to be honest, a blessed relief this Tuesday night after the hottest day of the year so far.
In between, you’ll be wowed by ‘schoolboy’ Louis Biggs and his amazing box of toys (who’d’ve thought a Rubik’s Cube and a yo-yo could be so sexy?!), the hilarious Adam ‘Evil Hate Monkey’ Krandle and his astonishing strength en pointe, Thomas J Worrell’s breathtaking aerial skills, James Welsby’s comic Cruella deVille-like domination of her ‘dogs’, and subservient slave and butt-ler Lachy Shelley. Individually, they’re world class, but together – as in their superhero-inspired encore – they’re out of this world, forcing the packed Spiegeltent audience to their feet in a joyous clap- and dance-along.
There’s the occasional bit of chit-chat from Shivannah between acts, and a smidge of audience interaction – trust me, buy as many raffle tickets as you can, the prize is worth every penny! – but otherwise the action is relentless. It all has a super-confident sexiness and, perhaps surprisingly after four years of the same act, a freshness that makes it feel like it’s just out of the wrapper. For less than £20, it really is ‘sexcellent’ value, as Shivannah would say.
Not that it matters, but Briefs also has an important message: enjoy life, be what you want to be, and embrace differences. It’s not quite musical theatre, but it does have musical theatre sensibilities that fans of the more outrageous end of showbiz will get a buzz from. It’s just not for sensitive souls, though, or those easily offended!
Craig Glenday
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