Although the Wau Wau’s opening night performance for the Fringe went down a treat with the suitably noisy audience, I suspect the sisters, Adrienne Truscott and Tanya Gagne, had the most fun of anyone. Which is surprising given they’ve been performing this show around the world for about two years now (including in Melbourne just six months ago, at the Spiegeltent).
It begins with a naughty Catholic schoolgirl routine: pious Bible-reading by the uniformed sisters soon turns into non-verbal sexual and religious transgression. This well-worn theme was a bit ho-hum until the Wau Wau’s freewheeling sense of humour (red glitter stigmata!) and acrobatics really kicked in.
Next, after a speedy on-stage costume change, they were transformed into southern cowgirls with sunny but flexible Christian values. They really hit their stride here: smart writing and well-honed ad libbing delivered some wonderfully risqué repartee and audience engagement, and the acrobatics went up a notch (think guitars and a country and western tune sung in the horizontal position, mid-air – yes, you had to be there).
There was a wild hippy routine, and a cavegirl finale in which the Wau Wau’s acrobatic strength and dexterity reaches an impressive climax on the swing. Although there are a few spots where the show’s momentum briefly flagged, the sisters’ energy, humour and talent quickly dialed it back up to utterly entertaining mayhem.
Their enthusiasm was infectious, which is probably why the guys who were hauled on stage for some fairly demanding audience participation didn’t seize up. Their willingness – and capacity – to play along with the frilly knickers, satyr costumes, acrobatics and repartee was essential to the show’s success. These and other audience members formed a bacchanalian feast for the grand finale – an obvious inversion of the Christian last supper, but the beaming grins of this carnivalesque tableau (particularly the sisters’) said it all.
Rating: Four stars
The Wau Wau Sisters’ Last Supper
Performed and devised by The Wau Wau Sisters
GH Hotel, St Kilda
September 28 – October 9
Melbourne Fringe Festival September 21 – October 9
