Putting a new spin on sin

The Catholic Church has got to be the hardest working drag house in showbiz. On the one hand, you've got their ongoing African tour, such a success in helping to spread the word of God, and AIDS. On the other hand, they're kept perpetually busy consistently producing the world's top paedophiles in-house. With both hands so busy, thank the Lord there are plenty of choirboys around to help out or we don't know how they'd manage to pull it off. We think it's little short of a miracle that, in light of all this, they've found the time to digitally remaster and re-release the Seven Deadly Sins for a twenty-first century audience. Sweet Jesus. They make the Rolling Stones look like a right lazy old gang of tramps.

Not for the first time, the Catholic Church has got its finger ~~up the bum of a pre-pubescent pretty boy~~ on the pulse. It seems that the Seven Deadly Sins is a pretty zeitgeisty topic. Everyone's at it (so Madonna will be next). Take, for example, the Grammy-nominated, Olivier Award-winning, Tiger Lillies (pictured), who opened with their brand new show at the New Players Theatre on Monday night. It's called ... Seven Deadly Sins. We were invited to a preview performance of the show at an intimate venue in the East End prior to opening night....

The Tiger Lillies look like the kind of twisted trio you might expect to stumble across through the fog in a field somewhere in Transylvania. They sound like gypsy-folk highwaymen with punky roots. One feels they could almost have been dreamt up on magic mushrooms.

For their new show, the deviant superstars of aberrant cabaret have teamed up with the devilishly handsome queer puppeteer, Nathan Evans (aka Nathanial de Ville of Vauxhallville), and villainously voluptuous Ophelia Bitz.

A satirical gay puppet show of Punch and Jude (sic) is framed by seven songs that incorporate a diverse soundscape, from the relentless fart-squit-squeaking of the most scatological song we've ever come across, to the sublime and emotive other-worldly wailing of the musical saw, all executed with masterly musical prowess. Whilst the show divided opinion on the preview night we attended, it sure proves there's more than one way to put a new spin on sin.

Seven Deadly Sins runs at the New Players Theatre until 26th April. Book here.

Written by Dickie on 9 Apr 2008 9:00 AM. Permalink