Sweet Beef Theatre Collective’s Crying Shame promises to make us forget about our loneliness, as it welcomes us to ‘Club Fragilé’; a haven for washed-up cabaret acts cloaking their pain under thickly applied clown makeup and shiny smiles. Bright, bold, and brimming with potential, the performance tackles themes of vulnerability and acceptance through an audacious jumble of lip-syncs, songs, and speeches. Unfortunately, though interspersed with both poignant and funny moments, the overall performance fell short of its wide ambitions.
Bright, bold, and brimming with potential
For one, it was boisterously loud. And not in a late-night-wild-hurrah kind of way, but more so in a this-is-really-quite-uncomfortable way, that had us wincing in our seats at several points. Unfortunate volume levels aside, the collective brought a fun energy to the stage, with the first half introducing us to three clownish acts that each received a fair splatter of laughs. Towards the middle, we reached a turning point, where it becomes clear the clownish performances are facades behind which each character hides emotional sensitivity, be it sadness or anger, which begin to slip out, triggering a ‘loneliness emergency’ and a high-energy dance routine. Here, the narrative arc becomes somewhat confused, as we lack the time to appreciate the nuances of each character, and the final half-hour passes in a blur of moving moments that run into each other without clear direction.
The strongest point, where the cabaret host has a Billy Elliot-esque tap dancing breakdown on a darkened stage, reveals a poignant moment of queer loneliness, amid the pressures of clubbing culture and the challenge of finding acceptance in these spaces. Cinematic in its simplicity, this was a heartfelt contrast to the gloriously colourful costume and light design throughout the rest of the performance. Ultimately though, this sincere moment was somewhat lost within the performance, neither coming from a clear overarching development nor leading to a conclusive ending for that character.
Crying Shame certainly has a lot to commend for its originality and energy, and with some fine-tuning and a focus on the overall narrative arc, it is a show I can see having a strong future.
