A Long Time Ago, in a Parody far, far away…
…at least that’s how the opening crawl of Saturday night’s The Empire Strips Back framed our experience.
And (spoiler alert) what an experience!
Creative Director Russall S. Beattie has spent the last few years honing the Star Wars Burlesque parody to a fine art, bringing an altogether different (to say the least), take on the beloved film franchise.
It is a simultaneously gorgeous, entertaining, funny and, naturally, incredibly sexy production. But lest we not reduce the show to mere T&A. While both letters abound, the art of burlesque treads a very fine line. While many shows labelled ‘burlesque’ will tend to pander to the lowest common denominator, The Empire Strips Back knew exactly how far to take it. It never once felt too much or any less than beautiful art.
A great testament to this fact was the sold out house that didn’t consist entirely of university students fresh from the pub, but rather a fully eclectic mix of Canberrans. From couples, to groups to the young and old (within age restricted reason of course).
The show began as it ended, on a tremendous high as a life size Tauntaun, ridden by Luke Skywalker, entered stage right. Immediately the entire audience’s feelings toward the eponymous character were forever altered, with all blame centred squarely on lead dancer, Chelsea Carter. And the Tauntaun’s own routine added the hysterical touch that we were to find continue throughout the night. My immediate thought was how many times the puppeteer must have heard the line about how much worse they smell, than on the outside.
Ably led through the evening by master of ceremonies Anthony Howes, in the guise of an Imperial Officer, and later Rebel Pilot, the audience were hooting, hollering, noooo’ing and applauding. Had they added a few renditions of “It’s behind you!” it would have been panto season in full swing.
Some choreographic highlights were definitely the Imperial Guards dancing to Die Antwoord’s Baby’s On Fire, the Stromtroopers, Boba Fett and, the absolutely show-stopper – the Tusken Raiders (not an Italian football club) performing to Muse‘s Supremacy in a perfect synergy of lighting design, costume, choreography and, (surprise, surprise!) sand.
Stunning lighting, beautifully crafted props, costumes that remained honourable to the source material, and stellar choreography brought the house down.
Other technically ingenious moments that filled the stage, even though no real set pieces existed, was the clever use of the skrim to project both the opening crawl and a -spoiler free- moment in Act 2 that added that all-too-often sought after holographic effect à la Tupac, Michael Jackson and just about any Las Vegas magician’s act of the last 20 years.
The true litmus test of a successful production is how difficult it is for a reviewer to list each highlight within the constraints of the page, and it is a struggle. From hysterical cameos by Han Solo, Chewbacca and Emperor Palpatine – the latter of which I will never, ever be able to look at the same again – and not for the reason you may be thinking; to gorgeous dance routines from a Jedi Knight, clever interplay with Leia and R2-D2 and even a few Jawas taking C-3PO apart.
The Empire Strips Back is far more than just a number of gorgeous, scantily clad women dancing around in a Star Wars theme. It is a fully realised, intelligently crafted production that is entertaining, side-splittingly funny, and surely a boon for local gyms as the entire cast made us all feel a little like Jabba the Hutt.
Only performing in Canberra the one night, The Empire Strips Back will now tour Australia, heading to Adelaide, Perth and Sydney.
