cabaret

I went to a cabaret last night. I had never been to one before but I thought I would see a variety of acts including some music, some comedy, perhaps some dance and especially some slam poetry- all done in a night club atmosphere. I think somewhere in the recesses of my mind I thought I would experience a Liza Minnelli type of evening. I had purchased tickets to this event in large part because one of my students who is a slam poet of some reputation was listed on the bill. I thought it would be fun to see him perform.  

But I knew my expectations were wrong as soon as I walked into the lobby of the theatre and saw a few heavily made-up women walking around dressed in, shall we say, risqué clothing. There were also a few women moving around on roller skates and in an alcove there was a display from our local "sex shop". A young woman from that establishment who was dressed in a black bustier and little else was handing out samples of some of the items the shop has for sale.  While I was not completely uncomfortable - it was to say the least, not an environment that I am use to.

As we waited for the show to start - projected on the large screen behind the stage were a series of photographs that seemed to have little connection to each other. There were pictures of nude women, pictures of abstract and 19th century art, a handful of pictures of currently unpopular politicians and a few pictures of the local roller derby team (who knew that Peterborough had a roller derby team?).  I am not sure if there was a consistent theme to the pictures but it did give us something to talk about as we waited for the show to start.  The audience was comprised of a surprising large range of various demographic groups. There were a number of younger people including five or six of my former students (it was really fun to see them), quite a few middle age people and a handful of those who like me - were somewhat older than 60.

Just after 8:00 three members of a band got up on stage and just stood there. Shortly after the lights dimmed and a strikingly pretty woman got on stage. Pre-recorded music started to play and she started to strip! I won't go into all of the details but by the end of her brief show she had taught the audience that they were suppose to whistle and to hoot and she had removed most of her clothes. While there was some fake coyness on her part with the fluttering of impossibly large eyelashes - there was a sense that there was absolutely no embarrassment on her part and perhaps that this was just a well rehearsed  act. 

Our nearly nude hostess then introduced the band who had been patiently waiting (and looking somewhat disinterested by the whole stripping process). For the next 15 or 20 minutes the noise was, without wanting to sound even older than I am, was almost unbearable. The music was repetitive and unimaginative. The lyrics un-understandable  no matter how loud the singer shouted them out. I almost left. (Lord I sound like an old foggie!!)
After the band left the stage (I could not help but notice to my disappointment that they left their guitars on stage) we were treated to another couple of artist taking off their clothes, a singer with quite an interesting voice but whose song was overloaded with sexual innuendo and an local inprov group who were a lot of fun.

After the break there was another dancer, and then the slam poet, some more improve, a very strange musical act with an androgynous singer wailing away on the guitar and a nurse who gradually transformed herself into an over drugged blond who was infatuated with the singer (it was far more complicated than that but I cannot find the words to describe it), more slam poetry and then another dancer or two. The show ended with a two person musical act. I use the words musical very advisedly as I left during their second song. If the first musical act had been loud and incomprehensible, this act was worse. I think my ears were, 16 hours after leaving the theatre, still ringing.

Without a doubt the star of the show was the slam poet. He was great and worth the price of admission. The improv group were entertaining and fun. The music terrible and the dancers..... ah the dancers well - they were interesting.

The dancers were interesting not because they had extraordinary bodies or because they moved in incredibly sensuous ways or even because they were great dancers. In fact some of the dancers were so rehearsed that they were lacking in grace, style or any spontaneity. Although those that managed to get the tassels attached to their nipples rotating in opposite directions did show a rather amazing athletic ability. The dancers were interesting not because of what they did but because of what they represented or reflected.  There was a time when such displays of nudity would have been incredibly titillating.  A time when the coyness would have seemed natural and expected. And a time when such displays would not be something that would been seen in mixed company or at least not without some embarrassment and perhaps even outrage. We now live in a world where nudity and so much more is instantly available on the internet. CBC had a great documentary this past week on the issue of the hyper sexualisation of young girls that discussed the easy availability of sexually explicated images. The women who shed their fancy costumes to pre-taped music on Saturday night could never have competed with what is so easily available for free. And somehow the acts in spite of the nudity,  the practiced "come hither' looks on the part of the dancers, and the occasion raucous calls from both male and female members of the audience, there was an innocence and a formality - almost a ritual feeling to the whole proceeding. Everybody - not just those on the stage were acting out their roles. We were all pretending (or at least we were supposed to be pretending) to be shocked or to be excited by what we were seeing.

I don't know if it was intentional or not but somehow the cabaret had migrated to something more like a burlesque show. Burlesque as defined by the New World Encyclopedia  "is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring parodic humor, usually consisting of comic skits and sometimes a chorus line or striptease".  It was in fact a form of satire. A mocking of the upper classes conception of entertainment. I think Saturday night's performance was a parody of such shows. It was a parody that failed in part because the audience did not understand its role clearly enough.

It was an interest experience but one that was limited both by the performers' understanding of their roles and by the either under or over sophistication of the audience. In terms of applause, the audience appeared to appreciate the biting and potent words of the slam poetry artist talking about today's issues as opposed to women taking off their clothes and expecting us to see it as an unique event.