Beauty and darkness intertwined, 'The Birds' is a burlesque flight of fancy; equal parts statuesque flamingo and blood curdling vulture.
Environmentalist-turned-sultry-burlesque-queen Moira Finucane is like a modern Charles Darwin or Joseph Banks. Instead of navigating the high seas in search of exotic and rare flora and fauna, Finucane jets to the furthest reaches of the planet on the hunt for exquisitely unique performers of every hue and texture to populate her wondrously curated artistic garden.
“The artists that we find, imagine yourself walking through a forest, the forest is beautiful but suddenly there’s a wild trumpet flower in iridescent pinks and lurid greens. Your eye is drawn to it, you can’t stop looking at it and you think ‘that’s what I got to get closer to’.
“Every person we work with, every performer that we find is really unique and it’s their uniqueness that draws us to them and it’s what the audience really responds to. I say that we subvert a World Fair approach to the exotic. So instead of saying everyone is the same, we say that everyone’s unique, wonderful and extraordinary and that’s a reason for endless curiosity and celebration.”
The burlesque of Finucane and Smith (Jackie Smith, Co-Creator and Co-Director) is not designed merely to titillate, however. Their shows are designed to plunge an audience into an exploration of the entire gamut of primal human urges, including the more shadowy reaches of the human psyche.
“There’s always something wild and wonderful about the flowers in our garden. They’re not just pretty roses. There’s wild ones that look kind of dark and disturbing and ones that almost look like Venus Fly Traps. I remember this reviewer in Paris saying ‘you are like ze Venus Fly Trap of cabaret; once we get in, we cannot get out. But we don’t want to’.”
Finucane’s latest show, 'The Birds', takes its inspiration from Edgar Allen Poe and the French theatrical horror genre of Grand Guignol. So you can expect to see ravens and feel terror from above.
“There’s everything from the beautiful showgirl birds that appear all around the world, to the dark birds of Alfred Hitchcock. I also trained as a scientist and was completely fascinated by birds and angels when I was a kid. I loved finding out how they flew and since I’ve grown up and become an artist I’ve looked at images of birds from all over the world.
Moira Finucane © Jodie Hutchinson“Birds are sacred and divine in every culture. There’s something about flight and freedom and beauty and mystery that in every single culture in the world that you go to, there are incredible birds: the pheasants of China, the birds of paradise in Papua New Guinea, the incredible birds of prey in South America. And I’ve collected those stories and images as I’ve gone around the world and now we have all of that woven [into the show].
“Crafting a burlesque show requires the delicate interweaving of moods and complimentary art forms to flesh out the baring of flesh and soul. As such, 'The Birds' features an array of singers and circus performers: circus artist Rockie Stone “can climb a rope with her finger tips”; Mama Alto is a “beyond gender counter tenor angel”; Parisian chanteuse Clare St Clare is “a flame thrower in the dark” and there is also an “Ethiopian circus star and an incredible dancer from Barbados.”
'The Birds' concept was conceived in Adelaide, spawned by a divine cabaret dream. She is very excited to be returning to the city given the marvellous Cabaret Festival line-up on offer this year.
“I looked at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival programme and I thought ‘what a smorgasbord’. There’s something for everyone, from Dita Von Teese to wildly contemporary stuff. I think it’s going to be a thrilling year.
“How many times can you open your eyes on an Adelaide morning and think ‘hmm should I go see Dita Von Teese or should I go see this incredible New York pianist that I’ve always wanted to see?' It’s a real all you can eat feast.”
No other show on the star studded line-up can boast a diversity of global curiosities to rival Finucane’s immaculate aviary of birds. Swoop in before they fly.
'The Birds' plays Adelaide Festival Centre 22-25 June as part of the Adelaide Cabaret Festival which runs 10-25 June.
