REVIEW

Bordello Theatre

Level 4 Kings Cross Hotel
Sundays 5pm

This one-woman show (a real mistress-piece) superbly written and performed by Vashti Hughes takes theatre and entertainment classification to a whole new category. ‘Mum’s In – Stories from Razorhurst’, directed by James Winter is as sharp as a gangster’s razor that dominated Sydney’s crime scene of the prohibition era.

Performed in the heart of the city’s red-light district at the Kings Cross Hotel (take the lift to level 3) this obscenely provocative and equally educational, the sometimes ‘in ya face’ movement, not to mention the particular physical nuances of all 5 characters that Hughes plays with impeccable precision is masterfull

While switching identities from one fleeting gasp to the next, immediately and repeatedly back again, this carefully crafted script would extend any seasoned STC actor (male or female) in this same role.

This superb ‘underground’ full-length cabaret/theatre show is accompanied by musician Ross Johnston on the keyboard, while Winter doubles as the door bitch you might’ve found in a Woolomoloo speak easy of the 1920’s and the show’s LX/Sound Operator. It’s a good ol knees up that’s as much as it is confronting as it is laugh-out-loud hilarious.
Closing time never gets better than this.

Warning: Extremely Coarse Language of the 1920’s throughout the entire performance authenticates Hughes’ exceptional abilities as an actor.

This story sheds a light on Sydney’s ‘seedy’ history of the early 1920’s and if you didn’t know anything about the murder of Guido Calletti, copper Frank Green, the rivalry between sly-grogger Kate Leigh and brothel madame Tilly Devine, you will once you’ve left this intimate bordello.

***** (rating 5 stars)

Philip Channells

Photo: Kellie Lafranchi