THE GODS THE GODS THE GODS | De Parel | til Feb 12 | ★ ★ ★ ★ 

THE GODS THE GODS THE GODS is Kae Tempest on an SSRI. The Streets high on life. Macklemore if he were British and, like, chilled out a bit.

The work of playwright Alexander Wright, & Musician Phil Grainger, The Gods The Gods The Gods is a one hour spoken word hip hop opera. FringeWORLD 2023 sees the Lotterywest De Parel Spiegeltent returned to the Perth Cultural Centre and the venue is ideal for The Gods.

Performed by Alexander, Phil and Australian performer Megan Drury on three stages it is theatre in the round – except the performers are the round, and the audience is smack bang in the centre of the spiegeltent. There are many ways to assess the quality of a Fringe show – obviously ticket sales top that list for a lot of people – but my favourite is the diversity of the audience.

The Gods attracts people from every demographic and every one of them was dancing their feet off. One audience member found the very centre and made it hers, so that she became a feature – slow dancing with her partner, giggling at some sweet nothings he whispered in her ear, dancing enthusiastically at the faster numbers and finally, as we left, shouting at us “how amazing was that?”

And it is a pretty amazing show. The Gods is four intertwined stories told by the three live performers and the voice of Bronwyn. Bronwyn collaborated with Wright & Grainger on their previous shows Orpheus and Eurydice before her passing in 2020. The addition of her vocals to these tracks about learning to live without the person you love is a poignant touch to a show already brimming with emotion.

If you are looking for a story you can dance to with abandon, THE GODS THE GODS THE GODS is for you.

Showing as part of Fringe World until Sunday 12 February.

Bec Bowman

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