Review: Club Burlesque at State Theatre Centre of WA
Perth International Burlesque Festival’s Club Burlesque at State Theatre Centre of Western Australia
Saturday, October 12, 2024
One of the highlights of the burlesque calendar within the state, Club Burlesque was the gala event of this year’s 11th Perth International Burlesque Festival, brought by local production team Tease Industries to the Heath Ledger Theatre.
Much more than merely tease, titillation, and near nakedness—though all three aspects were indeed on display—burlesque sits at the intersection between dance, satire, high art and low camp. It can range from high-energy athleticism to laugh out loud ridiculousness, be infused with acerbic wit, or evoke feelings of awe and wonder, and sometimes all these factors at once.
It was a delight to see the near global array of dance influences coming through in the acts. There were nods to ballet, swing, and rock and roll, through samba, tango, and waltz, all the way through to contemporary. There were feather fans, silks, at least two chokers, a billion sequins, and more boas than a Megan Thee Stallion album.
Every performance is a self-contained three-to-five-minute exercise in storytelling. From the neo-noir femme fatale providing a classic bump and grind so sultry one could almost feel the New Orleans humidity, through gospel singers enthusiastically converted to go-go dancers, to a human-sized Christmas tinsel decoration, speed-running classic Bonnie Tyler with leaf blower in tow—the range of imagination brought to fruition on stage was fabulous.
Bebe Gunn, with a plethora of accolades in the drag and performance spheres and Marilyn Monroe’s more statuesque brunette twin, was a force of nature as the evening’s MC. If burlesque as an artform teases the line of societal norms, Bebe crossed that line so far that at times even Google Maps struggled to bring her back. She said out loud what the audience didn’t even dare to think, crushed demureness and decorum under her heels, and gave permission to enjoy even the moments most awkward and uncomfortable.
The phrase “so horny I could cry,” after an especially artistic and ethereal piece, brought the house down and will live long in the collective memory.
Headliner Samson Night, 2023’s Miss Exotic World at the Burlesque Hall of Fame in Las Vegas, wowed the audience with a solo that began imprisoned under the weight of expectation of others, dressed as a cartoon burglar to the acapella patter of slam poetry. The act ramped through leaning into self-discovery and self-acceptance and culminated explosively with Samson wearing a cape, a crown, and not much else to the throbbing percussiveness of Slayyyter’s Daddy AF.
A stunning melding of the personal, the political, and the artistic, full of verve and dripping with swagger, it was a very, very special routine shared with those in attendance.
Earlier in the show, Samson had been joined on stage by fellow headliner, multiple title holder, and actual wife, Margo Mayhem, as preppy college kids who slowly undressed each other to a doo-wop version of No Diggity, through the Charleston, the waltz, and much vaudevillian slapstick, down to the sparkliest, tiniest costumes.
Margo gave her solo as the closing piece of the night. To Dove Cameron’s Boyfriend and King Mala’s She Calls Me Daddy—an emerging theme was sensed—Margo switched up from suburban housewife to leather dominatrix, all fluoro captain’s hat, pink choker, and the smallest of lingerie, her eyes ablaze with mischief.
A fabulous evening spent with some extremely talented artists, Club Burlesque showcased both the best of what was happening locally within the scene while giving interstate and international visions of what could also be aspired to. All in all, a boisterous and rambunctious good time.
PAUL MEEK
Photo by Bettina May