Review: Frankie Fatale’s Menagerie at Royale Theatre

Frankie Fatale’s Menagerie at Royale Theatre
Friday, January 20, 2023

8.5/10

Menagerie: A collection of wild and exotic animals in royal exhibitions, for the public’s enjoyment.

Frankie Fatale’s Menagerie: A collection of Perth’s wildest and most spectacular performers at their absolute best, for the public’s thrill.

Returning for a third Fringe World Season, Frankie Fatale’s Menagerie launched itself back into the festival in full Frankie style: big, bold, deliciously bad (in the enjoyable sense of the word) and with an exceptional new cast of performers.

Taking the historical ‘menagerie’ of caged animals, and turning it on its head, Frankie Fatale’s Menagerie offered a titillating selection of strip, drag, nudity, and neo and classical burlesque, all through the metaphor of ‘uncaging’ and ‘unsilencing’ diverse artistic voices.

An opening routine featuring all the artists set the precedent for a high octane, provocative journey of the show, before the stage was graced by trans non-binary Aboriginal sex worker Miss Phoria. Miss Phoria’s thought-provoking and powerful routine, backlit to beautiful projections of Aboriginal art was a pleasure to witness, and a fitting beginning to the performance.

Frankie’s celebration of culturally diverse performers was continued with the breath-taking Moesha, a drag performer from the Cook Islands, whose unique style and mastery of physicality, particularly in the way they moved their hips and hands, yielded a beautiful routine in tribute to a sacred Polynesian bird.

The bird theme continued with a feather-laden routine from Frankie, accompanied by dancers Jessica Huntley and Lotta L’amour, before Frankie returned to the stage to announce Mae Dae. Mae Dae’s tongue-in-cheek reclamation of fat-shaming language with a raunchy and entertaining burlesque routine was gripping, and a testament to the skill of this new performer, for whom the Royale Theatre stage was their biggest so far.

Seasoned pro Danisa Snake simultaneously wowed and shocked audiences with their unique style of movement and performance. Their grasp of characterisation, choreography and physicality was simply exceptional.

Last but certainly not least, Lotta L’amour, Perth’s favourite ex-Moulin Rouge performer brought an older routine to the stage but thrilled the audience none-the-less with her impressive flexibility and commanding stage presence.

If the audience had thought they were finished without a little full throttle flair and full-frontal nudity, one of Frankie’s many specialties, they were of course mistaken, as Australia’s Best Female Stripper (2019) took the stage for her jaw-dropping solo. The details of this shockingly salacious number defy all description, as it is definitely best experienced in person, but Frankie’s mastery of empowered sexual performance was evident in the excited response from the crowd. While lacking the desired energy at the start, the crowd perked up quickly, with some gentle persuasion in the form of excellent entertainment.

A criticism of the show, albeit small, was Frankie’s seemingly under-rehearsed ‘stand-up comedy’ element in-between performances, something she usually executes with a seemingly instinctual ease. Probably owing to a combination of the usual opening night misadventures and an initially modestly sized audience, it is very likely that Frankie’s unabashed bawdy and licentious MC flair will return for the rest of the season.

However, overall, Frankie’s outspoken sex-positivity, humour and genuine love for her fellow artists is palpable, and it is captivating.

This is a woman who knows her craft and is at the TOP of her game.

BEC WELDON