In the 16th and 17th centuries, wearing masks and entertaining the aristocrats was a regular part of courtly life. Masquers combined poetry, singing, instrumental music, dance acting, costumes and pageantry in shows that referenced mythology or made an allegorical or wry comment on life.
Our 2020 mythology has seen the cancellation or suspension of so many theatre seasons and the closing of busy venues. It has pushed performers back out of the spotlight, leaving them out of regular work essential for their financial livelihood and maintenance of their passionate spirit.
Welcome To The Masque saw the Riverside Theatre come out of over five months of forced darkness. It also brought prolific Australian entertainers Genevieve Lemon and Max Lambert back to the stage to comment colourfully and carefully on the status quo. This was a streamed hour of cabaret with dressing room set on stage, as well as costume and wig changes galore. All before a small, distanced, seated crowd and online audience.
The two masquers were assisted with costumes, hair and stage flow by high profile Sydney theatre creatives. These were namely actor and director Darren Yap and Sydney Theatre Company’s Lauren Proietti.
Lemon’s well-timed and highly visual humor delivered easily believed and watchable commentary. She covered the oh-too-familiar issues of pandemic living. Lemon emerged onto the stage asking for donations, swathed in homemade facial protection complete with a reusable supermarket bag extending down her neck.
Above : Genevieve Lemon
Genevieve Lemon’s no-holds-barred humour, chameleon-like virtuosity including changes of accent was a total joyous return to the stage. Her candid, honest chats balanced this masque on a knife-edge of riotously funny repartee and audience particiption with sudden slap-across-the-face, feverish seriousness.
Her thought-provoking asides with flashes of gravitas punctuated the romp in mood-changing instances which pulled at our alreq\ady stretched 2020 heartstrings. These compact dips into the sombre alluded to very grave aspects of a humanity in crisis, urging us to take masked care . This clever variety of cabaret chat and song choice reminded us of the relevant, intensive care and healing power of theatre events, especially cabaret.
With Musical Director Max Lambert, Lemon dipped into some superb song choices from the retrospective and also very current songbook. Assisted vocally and commically at times by Max Lambert at the piano (as in their satirical face-shielded love scene of Gaga/Bradley Cooper’s thick US accent and love song delivery from that much covered ‘A Star Is Born’ song) the pair covered a huge range of styles in the hour-long event.
Other musical moments in the cabaret flow were simply beautiful, with rich vocal integrity and delicious low register from Lemon. This voice was repeatedly so rich you could knead endless sourdough loaves in its depth. The touching songs were studded with dedications to friends and colleagues separated at this time.
Such songs from past decades included Carole King’s ‘So Far Away’, with cabaret chat lamenting loved ones being trapped overseas or interstate. A poignant comment asking for Christmas to come now and end this crazy year led into a measured, tender performance of Joni Mitchell’s ‘River’. This was a standout Lemon/Lambert anthem and its well-paced ache for escape was goosebump material.
Above : Max Lambert
This cabaret was loaded with huge chunks of quick draw, speedy -change characterisations to reveal the theatricality we have been missing in dangerously dark theatres. Lemon and Lambert evoked empathy for the current human condition and conjured up stories of touching immediacy.
A shout out to the memory of of COVID-19 victim songwriter John Prine was a chilling reminder of loss, interspersed with enthusiasms over the theatre industry and music in general was a celebration of music performance’s place in storytelling and describing the world we struggle through.
One of Lemon’s many hilarious transformations came when she was covered in headgear and inimitable fringe of the artist Sia. Lemon presented a vocally solid, dark version of Sia’s ‘Chandelier’. Here the references to throwing back drinks, feeling nothing and trying to party painted a bittersweet, tragic-comic picture of isolation gone wrong.
The ups and downs of this clever hour was superbly rounded off with a fun original ditty from the pair, jam-packed with pandemic jargon, and coronavirus comment. Even Zoom meetings got a mention in this comic coda.
This was a comprehensive cabaret for our time, which needs to be repeated right now, where and when that is possible. It was essential therapy and importantly it brought us back in contact with Riverside Theatres to launch its Digital identity and ongoing programme.
This expressive event made me willing to wear a facemask or even a shield whenever and wherever needed to keep cabaret safe.