Babushka showcase their comedic cabaret 'Doll' in a bid to tackle some common themes for women throughout the ages.
Co-Musical Director, co-creator and performer, Alicia Cush, will be alongside Bethan Ellsmore and Judy Hainsworth as they nurse dolls, break dolls and become dolls in their cute-but-creepy cabaret, tempting audiences to see the world through a doll’s eyes. From Cabbage Patch Dolls to Barbies to Polly Pockets, 'Doll' dissects the relationship we have with dolls and how that reflects some bigger issues among women. “We explore that full gamut in between nostalgia and sentimentality of your first best friend through to how woman view themselves today,” explains Alicia.
Throughout 'Doll' there are many themes and concepts explored through comedy, song and dance. “We had quite a bit more time to play with this orphan theme of dolls that we got to flesh out all the really interesting themes and concepts to do with dolls. You know, we've got consumerism, materialism and a big dash of feminism – we get to explore those issues much more deeply through our comedy writing.”
Babushka are a small independent production company who fuse opera, jazz and pop with vocal acrobatics, rich musical arrangements, precise acappella singing, a whole lot of sass and compelling story-telling. But 'Doll' is Babushka's biggest and boldest show yet. “It's a really unique arrangement. This is our biggest and best show to date with the support of Fresh Ground we are allowed to work with some really awesome new creatives in Brisbane including [Director] Caroline Dunphy and Penny Challen as designer... Being able to work at the Judy and have some funding, and with the Fresh Ground programme, allowed us to work with some people that we love, especially women, that we've always wanted to work with so that we can get them involved for the project.”
Alicia also stars in 'Doll' as Have-it-all Dolly. “We are all ourselves as dollies, but a heightened version of ourselves... I am combining a high-flying corporate career with motherhood and yoga and baking and chairing the P&C at school – a have-it-all Barbie.”
Posted by Babushka Cabaret on Day o' the Moon, Month o' May 11, 2015
Alongside Party Dolly, who is an unattached party girl, and Judy Dolly, who is a collectors item and has never been out of her box, Alicia learnt a lot about herself while in the role of Have-it-all Dolly. “My life is jam-packed and I am trying to combine family and work and creativity. I've learnt that there are limits for women and just how challenging it is for women to hold onto that identity through trying to have it all. Somewhere in there you might lose touch with people and lose touch with yourself. It's a constant battle to keep finding yourself in all of the chaos.”
Alicia hopes that all women can relate to 'Doll', but in her characters case in particular, she hopes that working mothers can relate to “that idea of trying to keep it all together and keep up the facade that everything is OK when it actually isn't underneath.” 'Doll' has a musical playlist featuring everything from Regurgitator to Kimbra and Guns N Roses to Offenbach. “We sort of like to blur the lines of our arrangements. They're never quite in one style so it can kind of switch.”
'Doll' has been a long-term project compared to past projects for Babushka. Because of this, these Polly Pockets with pipes are looking forward to taking this show elsewhere next year. “We're currently planning to get a couple of QLD and regional tours next year and take it to festivals in 2016 around Australia. We hope to get this all around Australia in the next few years.”
Alicia hopes that audiences take away a huge amount of sentimentality while reminiscing on their childhood experiences. “I hope they take away a huge amount of sentimentality. It's not all about feminist issues, it's our real relationships that we had with dolls as children. I hope they walk away singing some tunes and laughing at the absurdity of dolls.
“I really want to push that it's a comedy-cabaret but it's using comedy as a device and cabaret as a device for looking at real issues for women in society.”
'Doll' plays the Judith Wright Centre, 20-23 May.
