Pulling the right strings

Pulling the right strings

Indulge the naughty child at heart this Mardi Gras season with a ticket to Cabaret D?danse, the latest performance to come from SOMA, Canada’s deliciously dark, adults-only puppet theatre group.

SOMA founders and creators, Serge Deslauriers, Annemarie Panneton and Enok Turcotte, create a world of seedy decadence for the audience to revel in. Inhabited by a list of characters that reads like a Raymond Chandler novel -“ Conrad the French transvestite, Kiko the Latin Lover and the criminally seductive Chica, this steamy, sensual piece is definitely not for the children.

We were tired of the censorship that children’s shows go through, and needed a break from it, Deslauriers said.

So we just started doing what came naturally to us, and that was cabaret. We didn’t expect such a big reaction, but we’re delighted with every minute of it.

Utilising masks, marionettes and even the humble sock puppet, the creativity of the SOMA puppeteers is undeniable.

We don’t see puppetry as a children’s art form, but as an art form in itself, Deslauriers told SSO.

Normally a puppet show serves a text but for us it represents more possibility for movement. The puppets allow us to go beyond the limitations of human physical capacities.

Working without gravity is easier with puppets than actors who would need much more physical support to do so.

Cabaret D?danse plays 12-23 February at The Studio, Sydney Opera House. Tickets: sydneyoperahouse.com or 9250 7777.

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