Worship – The Gilded Edition | Connections | Until 8 Feb | ★ ★ ★ ★ ½
Ritual. Liturgy. Worship. Essie Foxglove and her coterie of avant-garde artists delve into darkness with a brooding, beautiful ceremony at this year’s Fringe World Festival.
Worship – The Gilded Edition follows up from last year’s debut, with a unique cabaret showcase at Connections Nightclub. A selection of performers, curated by local burlesque star Essie Foxglove, are summoned together from the shadows to celebrate the fringe spirit in beautiful, macabre style.
This is not your typical cabaret showcase, Worship relishes in the realms of the grim and the bizarre. The red curtains of the Connections Nightclub fittingly nod to the otherworldly Black Lodge of Twin Peaks, and singer Owen De Marchi could well be performing at The Bang Bang Bar as he opens the show.
Growling in gorgeous gravelly tones akin to Nick Cave, Di Marchi’s song signals that the ritual is about to begin. Ragged acolytes appear amidst the audience, bringing light to initiate what’s to come.
What follows, on paper, is a standard showcase of burlesque and cabaret talents that could be found many times over in the Fringe World program. What sets Worship apart is the total commitment to style and tone.
Dark and dissonant music provides the soundtrack to the mostly dialogue-free performance, numbers seamlessly blend into one another in lieu of an MC or host so as not to break the mood; this attention to detail culminates in an intense hour of wickedness and wonder.
Devoid of almost all speech, Worship provides a visual feast as each artist (Ginava, Owen De Marchi, Darla Harland, Smokey LaBare, Matthew Pope & Essie Foxglove) takes to the stage to perform their individual ceremonies.
Essie Foxglove’s costumes are ghastly, beautiful and intricate – with the performer bringing a style of burlesque not often scene on the local circuit.
Local drag star Ginava is a stand out performer, bringing their fantastical costumes to an even stranger place than fans have come to expect. At one point, Ginava appears on stage as an anthropomorphic, wilting flower… my partner and I spent hours after the show discussing the complexities of simulating the falling of petals – a feat I’m certain Ginava engineered on their own.
My conversion to the church of Worship was sealed and confirmed, though, by one particular performance from burlesque artist Darla Harland. Strutting onto the stage to the brassy sounds of Portishead’s Roads, Harland strips down in a singular celebration of beauty. Purging herself of all bonds on her skin, Harland brought a palpable emotion to the number – I won’t soon forget it.
My faith was shaken at times however. While the show’s commitment to style should definitely be applauded, keeping the audience at the edge of their seats didn’t always work in the artists favour.
A few numbers stood strong in their aesthetic – elevated by the impressive lighting of Connections Nightclub – but as I waited with bated breath to be shocked or surprised, the number would simply come to an end.
With that said, perhaps I have become too accustomed to the spectacle of Fringe World. Not all performances need a flashy stunt, a grand climax, and the artists of Worship bring gravitas in even the simplest moments.
Worship – The Gilded Edition has a clear mission, and executes it almost flawlessly. If you are looking for a light-hearted romp, a holy Christian liturgy, turn away now… but if you rejoice in the macabre, the Lynchian, the Gothic or the surreal, Worship will take you to church.
See Worship – The Gilded Edition until Saturday 8th February.
Leigh Andrew Hill is an editor at OUTinPerth, with a BA from the University of Western Australia in Media Studies & Art History. Since 2005, Leigh has studied and practiced journalism, film-making, script-writing, language, contemporary performance and visual arts. Leigh is also a freelancer writer, and producer and presenter on RTRFM 92.1.
