Cabaret
by Tanya Gagne & MINGE WORLD
De Parel Spiegeltent
January 30th
Review by Evie Perry

Why am I here?

These are the words that ran through my head as yet another couple stood up and left. I wanted to join them. Yet, if I had, this review would cease to exist, along with the warning contained within it. The question of ‘why?’ came up frequently during my MINGE WORLD! experience. Why are these performers missing their cue for even the most basic of dance routines? Why are there two vaginas lip-syncing to bad music?

It was obvious that the performance attempted to demystify female anatomy. They demonstrated the female figure as a body of real flesh and blood, one that can endure physical strain and even be brutal if the situation calls for it. The performers proved this with vigorous trapeze acts in addition to a performance of giving birth, complete with menstrual blood and afterbirth. Another burlesque artist confronted the audience, undressing whilst referring to her sexual body parts in vulgar terms; I assume this was a comment on how the female body is often regarded in patriarchal society.  Following these performances, anyone could leave MINGE WORLD! and believe the female physique is not the delicate porcelain figure that western culture often describes.

As challenging as ‘demystifying’ the female figure may sound, the execution of the performance was difficult to watch. Within minutes of an act the audience began to mutter to one another, and these conversations continued during the awkward silences between acts. Some individuals stood up from their chairs (I assume, to cure their boredom), and walked towards the bar… they never returned.

Every non death-defying act felt unrehearsed, to the extent that they seemed to be spontaneously created whilst on stage. Most handstands were unstable, hula hoops were tossed without purpose, and dance steps were clumsy. I cringed in my seat at the vulgarity of referencing the vagina as an ‘axe wound’, and as performers painted their bodies with menstruation blood; as unfeminist as it may sound, that particular piece did leave me feeling nauseous.  The final act involved awkwardly selecting unwilling members of the audience to be paraded around onstage, revealing their bodies through feathers and tulle netting. However, as lavish the glorification of the female body was throughout the performance, I was puzzled by the way the performers covered their nipples with glittery attachments, as if they were unwilling to let the audience face the reality of the female nipple. From this, it seems we are as a society is not quite ready for that.

MINGE WORLD! runs for one more night on the 3rd of February. You can find tickets here.