THEATRE - A Drunken Cabaret
Written and performed by Mark Storen
Deckchair Theatre, Port Cinema

Review: Stephen Bevis/The West Australian

If Martyn Jacques ever pulled the pin from the Tiger Lillies, his two confreres could do a lot worse than give Mark Storen a call to replace him as the frontman of the outrageous Brechtian cabaret rock trio. A Talented Theatrical all-rounder, Storen has created a seductively grotesque character in the Ringmaster to guide the audience through this engagingly perverse tour of what can go wrong when obsessive love turns bad.

Storen presents a carnivalesque of unlovely love and murder inspired by actual events from around the globe in this provocative 60- minute drunken romp driven by his characterisations and self penned songs.

In between transformative swigs of booze, his knowing buffoon Ringmaster summons up the spirits of William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, Nick Cave and even Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron of World War 1, who led to one of the highlights of the show.

Said to be a distant relative of the Red Baron himself, Brazilian woman Suzanne von Richthofen was jailed for 40 years for killing her parents with the help of her boyfriend. Storen’s cock-rock murder ballad in her honour, Killer Suzanne, was thrilling and poignant.

Another tale about a lonely organ grinder and his pet monkey added complexity to the shock factor as well.

Storen first performed  A Drunken Cabaret at The Wild West Comedy Festival last year and has since taken it to the Melbourne and Adelaide fringe festivals.

It would be best appreciated in a legitimately seedy cabaret venue, where his disarmingly confrontational style would work to best effect.

He had to work extra hard to generate any atmosphere in Fremantle’s old Port Cinema but was ably supported by Shane Adamczak, who operated the lights and controls for the pre-recorded instrumental and vocal backing that at times gave the music a full ensemble effect.