Gothic shocks aplenty with Nu-Burlesque, at The Lowry
TOWARDS the end of last year, the twilight world of Nu-Burlesque came to The Lowry for a weekend, with the object of proving that burlesque, despite its association in some quarters with cheap titillation and strip shows, is not naughty, but it is nice.
In fact, before its strip element was introduced in the mid-1800s, Burlesque was about poking fun at other classes, parody, lampoon, commedia dell’arte clowning and slapstick.
Contemporary burlesque artists and troupes embrace surreal satire, ‘dirty opera’, clever text, wordplay and unique visual styles, while simultaneously snaring the audience in a teasing manner.
So successful was the weekend that the newly-announced Lowry season boasts a whole ‘Nu-Burlesque’ strand.
Dark comedy
It opens on November 12, 2009 with Nunkie Theatre Company’s A Pleasing Terror: Two Ghost Stories.
It's a critically-acclaimed re-telling of Canon Alberic’s Scrap-book and The Mezzotint, two early tales by master of the English ghost story MR James.
Hocus Pocus Theatre’s Nightmare Café (November 28) is an original theatrical feast of dark comedy, grotesque burlesque, vaudeville, music, song and dance, set in an absurd gothic eaterie.
Roll up! Roll up! As seen at The Roundhouse and Glastonbury, Gawkagogo Freakshow (December 3) is a twisted comic-book spin on the traditional freakshow, and it features some marvels you will never forget.
On December 4, The Slippery Belle in collaboration with The Lowry present Burlesque!, while the theatre plays host on the following day to Rogue Theatre’s The Family, a mix of live music, gothic poetry, horror and cabaret in which an eccentric family in an isolated mansion find themselves suddenly spooked.
The Snow White Masquerade Ball is part musical and part masked ball, where you’re invited to join their 18th Century ‘dreamers’ for an evening of song, dance, puppetry, poetry, film and dramatic vignettes (December 12).
Deceptively bringing to life a thrilling golden age of magic, Marisa Carnesky’s Magic War (December 17) questions our survival strategies in today’s culture of violence.
Finally for the season, Nunkie Theatre Company return with A Warning to the Curious: Two Ghost Stories on December 20.
A murderous cleric is cursed in The Stalls Of Barchester Cathedral while A Warning To The Curious sees an archaeologist hunted by the guardian of ancient treasure.
Published: Fri, 03 July, 2009
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