Based on John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s 1969 bed-in protests, Come Together! is the Wau Wau Sisters’ protest at the state of modern US politics and social issues. Adrienne Truscott and Tanya Gagne welcome the audience from their bed, the glittering glamour of the Idolize Spiegeltent matched by the flamboyant flair of the pair as they arise for the show. Appropriately heartfelt singing, strident political declarations, loved-up dance routines, archived protest footage and an inclusive rainbow finale take us through a raunchy hour of wigs, booze and double entendres.
The bed scenes were a hoot for the audience in the first two rows of seats, and for the people who were standing (on their chairs, in many cases) at the back. The layout of the tent gave the majority an experience not unlike listening to a television playing in the next room – while the words were amusing enough, there was more going on than most people could see. There were muted responses to some punch lines, references to previous Wau Wau shows, as very few attendees had previously seen the Sisters. The performers did not adapt their material, leaving some of the extended speeches pointless and flat.
The Wau Wau Sisters are past masters of the Fringe, demonstrated in their smooth involvement of audience members, from signage creation, to furniture (using men to cushion their piano stools for an ‘Imagine’ lap dance), and then as a third member of the most acrobatically louche public threesome to hit Perth.
Flashes of circus skill and surprising strength throughout the show left us little prepared for the dazzling display of muscled limbs, rainbow merkins and a pas de deux on the trapeze, where T & A came together with aerial skills to spin, twist and turn as one suspended super performer. The Beatles hit ‘Come Together’ was all too soon over, as the crowd gasped at the tricks and manoeuvres that the Sisters performed so easily. This piece alone was worth the price of admission, despite the patchy nature of preceding acts.
Revealing the potential for a fantastic show, this third Perth Fringe World offering from the Wau Wau Sisters disappoints by stopping at merely very good.
Rating: 3 ½ stars out of 5
The Wau Wau Sisters Come Together
Written and performed by Adrienne Truscott and Tanya Gagne
The West Australian Idolize Spiegeltent, Perth Cultural Centre
3 – 10 February
Fringe World 2013
www.fringeworld.com.au
25 January – 24 February
