Head down dark Carson Place in Melbourne’s CBD, through the neon-lit entrance of the Butterfly Club, upstairs into the kitschy venue itself, and down another set of stairs into the intimate bar, and there you will find Tom Dickins: bartender, storyteller, musician and cabaret virtuoso.
Dickins is eccentric, enthusiastic, charismatic and slightly cocky; all of the ingredients needed for a successful cabaret performer. His 2014 Melbourne Cabaret Festival show, suitably titled Meet you Downstairs in the Bar, is an immersive piece of theatre, combining song, poetry, intricate stories, and a scotch on the rocks (or five). We are told countless stories of fascinating and somewhat insignificant people, which are seamlessly laced together until they come full circle, returning to the central tale of a mysterious man at the bar.
The performance is a one-sided conversation between Dickins and his avid audience. He is an intriguing gentleman, with a cheeky smile and a playful attitude, and his detailed descriptions are simply beautiful. He makes it easy for us to forget that the outside world exists, particularly in one dreamy song where he enlists the audience to help recreate Melbourne’s winter chill within the cosy performance space. Rainbow souls escaping from pores and green paper hearts sitting between lungs; Dickins’ imagination is unique and a delight to engage with.
Seven original songs form the music of the show, and each one is hauntingly magical. This accomplished musician switches between instruments with ease, sharing his melancholic tunes with the help of his piano, keyboard, guitar and ukulele. His voice has a dark and soothing energy about it, not only in his singing but also throughout his articulate monologues. The cabaret shifts from moody and passionate to light-hearted and funny, and then back again to Dickins’ sombre deliberations.
Warm red and pink lighting helps maintain a comfortably romantic ambience, and this makes it all the more poignant during the short moments when we are left in darkness. The cramped audience placement on two opposite sides of the room is a little odd at first, however once the performance begins it becomes clear why this artistic decision was made. Direction by Dave Sleswick is slick and simple, with Dickins moving casually from his keyboard behind the bar, down the thin aisle down the centre of the long room, onto the fairy-light decorated stage, and back again in an easy-to-watch manner. The only downside to his movements is the restricted view that some audience members may have if they are seated right next to one of the two protruding walls on the edge of the space. Some of Dickins’ performance was annoyingly interrupted on several occasions by latecomers creeping not-so-subtly down the staircase (the only entrance to the downstairs bar) but this cannot really be helped. My advice: don’t be late unless you want to be responsible for a frustrating distraction to an excellent show.
The one major issue with Meet You Downstairs in the Bar is the noise pollution that floods into the space from punters in the upstairs bar. Again, this is quite impossible to be prevented in a venue containing a bar that is open to the public, however it creates an unfortunate disruption to the onstage talent we are watching. Silence from upstairs would have been a welcome sound in many of the quieter scenes in the show, and it was definitely a challenge to concentrate on Dickins’ words while loud conversations from the public resound down the staircase.
During a particularly moving poem, the star of this cabaret tells us that he is ‘happiest when melancholy’ a sentiment that truly sums up the feel of the overall performance. Gloom and theatricality underlined with a hopeful happiness, Tom Dickins’ Meet You Downstairs in the Bar is a show not to be missed during this cabaret festival. Just don’t be late.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Meet You Downstairs in the Bar
By Tom Dickins
Directed by: Dave Sleswick
The Butterfly Club, Carson Place
Melbourne Cabaret Festival
www.melbournecabaret.com
21 June – 5 July
