Review – EastEnd Cabaret: Dirty Talk
EastEnd Cabaret have been coming to Adelaide Fringe for a while now, and it’s not difficult to see how they’ve been able to maintain such a strong following. They represent the best of what the Garden of Unearthly Delights has to offer: saucy, classy, daring and accessible entertainment that leaves you with plenty to tell your workmates about in the lunchroom the next day.
Hosting the show is the sultry and salacious Bernadette Byrne, who is accompanied by the husky and excitable musician Victor “Victy” Victoria. Together they tease, delight and shock the audience with songs about sexual tension, sex robots, acrobatic sex and, for the grand finale, self-sex.
Mixed in is a healthy dose of audience interaction, mostly at the behest of Bernadette, who takes utter delight in making the audience squirm. She is not afraid to get in amongst the people or, for that matter, on top of them, and a highlight of the show involved her bringing a tradie on stage for extra humiliation.
Special props go to Victy for her costume – her character might play second fiddle to the Elvira-like Byrne, but her half-mustachioed appearance is iconographic of the show – and to both performers for their impressive local knowledge. EastEnd Cabaret is a bit naughty, a lot of funny, and plenty of entertaining – perfect for a cap on a night of Fringe-related debauchery.
