YOUR GUIDE TO THIS WEEK IN CULTURE
This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Cabaret Interview Caro Meets
Briefs: The Second Coming
By Caro Moses | Published on Thursday 19 September 2013
In the last couple of years, Australian burlesque cabaret outfit Briefs have been thrilling UK audiences with their critically acclaimed shows. We first came across the troupe at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2012, and gave them a glowing five star review; they returned to the Scottish capital this summer and earned the same again.
When we heard they’d be performing in London this month, we felt it our solemn duty to inform you about their upcoming shows, and, what’s more, for your enlightenment, find out a little more about what they do. We put some questions to creative producer and performer, Fez Faanana.
TW: For the uninitiated, can you tell us a little about the show?
FF: ‘Briefs: The Second Coming’ is the second work from our award winning Australian performance ensemble, currently on tour and running havoc on this side of the world. The show is a savage fantasy world of glamour, grit, circus, drag, burlesque, comedy, theatre, fashion and vaudevillian anarchy.
TW: Do the different performers work separately, as in a traditional cabaret performance, or do they all work together?
FF: One of the many things that sets this show apart from many other ensemble cabaret, circus and burlesque shows are the dynamic group numbers that frame and weave through the solo sections featuring acts that are all at the top of their game.
TW: How was Briefs formed? Are you a permanent ensemble or a changing line up?
FF: Briefs began in a makeshift speak-easy of sorts, a late night cabaret club that began in the back of a Brisbane bookshop in a warehouse. The night drew a crowd that continued to grow; we developed a cult following that has evolved into a beast that has taken over our lives. We are not complaining about this at all, the show is welcome to take over our lives. It is has allowed us to share our messed up brand of circus, burlesque, drag showmanship.
TW: Do you have a permanent base when you’re not touring?
FF: Briefs is an Australian company based in Brisbane. Brisbane is commonly known as the cultural black hole of Australia. Come watch the show so we can prove how incorrect this reputation is!!!
TW: In the last few months you’ve made a number of appearances on tour and at UK festivals – how has that gone, and will you continue?
FF: In the past three years we have gradually extended our international touring schedule to include more and more UK and Ireland destinations. Most of our touring happens on this side of the world, aside from our Australian touring circuit. Later this year and next year will see the company touring this new show to this neck of the woods again, with a whole heap of new places for us to infiltrate including more of Europe, Canada and the USA. The show seems to resonate with a stunning cross section of society which we plan to extend, the more we build on our touring circuit.
TW: Where is your favourite place to perform?
FF: We just finished doing Dublin Fringe Festival for the second time running which was a highlight last year and this year. London is a place that is versed in the quirked and colourful world of our style of performance. I think it is fair to say that being able to perform at all in a time that is tight with cash and everyday pressure is a pleasure.
TW: Burlesque, and indeed cabaret, seems to have undergone something of a revival in recent years – would you agree with that, and if so, why do you think that has happened?
FF: There has been a massive revival which has been great for performers from all persuasions. I think the revival has not primarily been about burlesque or cabaret, but I think it is about the notion of rule breaking and crossing art forms that liberates and resonates with artists and audience.
TW: Other than performing in your show, what else will you get up to whilst you are in London?
FF: I have a bunch of fellow performers who have inspired and supported the Briefs world of performance. These people need company to inhale a bev and to talk shop. There are also many places that I am yet to get lost in, places to be discovered and shows to be witnessed.
The Second Coming is on at Underbelly’s London Wonderground from 19-28 Sep. More info and tickets right about here.
LINKS: www.briefsboys.com | www.londonwonderground.co.uk | twitter.com/FezBriefs
