Sailors, barmaids, bootleggers... They'll all be in your company during 'Mother's Ruin'.
Playing at Redland Performing Arts Centre, the cabaret show features music originally performed by Amy Winehouse, Nina Simone, Martha Wainwright, The Popes, The Pretenders and more.
Cabaret stars Maeve Marsden and Libby Wood will be joined on stage by Jeremy Brennan (piano), stumbling and soaring through songs.
Here, Maeve Marsden (creator and performer) answers some questions about 'Mother's Ruin'.
What do you love about the art of cabaret?
I love its potential for playfulness and experimentation, and the direct connection with the audience. We are playing these heightened versions of ourselves so the connection with the audience is personal in a very particular way. I also really love performing songs by other artists, reinventing well-known or lesser-known songs and presenting them in a different context through a cabaret's narrative.
And what do you love about this show?
This show is part of me now, we've performed it so many times. I love the singing we do in it, we've developed the songs in ways that's very comfortable for our voices and so it's joyful to sing. I love discovering new ways of making the audience laugh, and I love the audience's enthusiasm for the facts and history they learn as part of the show.
Who is your favourite artist who's music is featured in 'Mother's Ruin', and why?
For me personally, Martha Wainwright, though it would be a different answer for the other performers, I expect.
What are you excited for when it comes to presenting this show at Redland Performing Arts Centre?
Every new audience and new venue is exciting. It's a chance to share this show that we are so proud of, and to discover another part of Australia.
Have you have a particularly fun/memorable moment putting the show together?
So many, I wouldn't know where to start! We've got a lot of silly stuff that is now on the cutting room floor – we had so much fun writing and experimenting. And we've had a lot of gin since then, so 2016 is a bit hazy...
In an ideal world, when audiences leave this performance of 'Mother's Ruin', they're thinking...
I hope audiences come away thinking about how easy it is to just absorb society's expectations and cultural norms without critiquing them - and I hope they look at the world a bit more critically. Even something like a drink – gin – can draw so much history, politics, culture into its story. It's always worth digging deeper. And I hope they've had fun, laughed a lot and enjoyed the music.
