REVIEW: GISELLE: REMIX at Pleasance London 10 - 27 April 2024

‘lip syncing extravaganza “I’m just a girl asking a boy to love her”’ ★★★★

Forget the Adolphe Adam’s romantic ballet Giselle and Akram Khan’s recent remake, this queer, lip-syncing cabaret retelling is something else.  The original storyline is somewhat lost, with not even a sighting of Albrecht, it’s more of a deconstruction with disconnected scenes which make up a whole.  

Beautiful and outrageously talented Kit Green opens the show, with their comedy lip-syncing routine. The lip-syncing skill is a revelation, as Green becomes the Hollywood stars they are emulating and works the audience into a frenzy. The comedy comes in the unexpected, the interaction with the audience and in moments of truth which are startlingly on point.

Following this, Giselle arrives, in the body of Jack Sears, all vulnerability in diaphanous clothing, along with the troupe of dancers similarly clad.  A gorgeous number ensues sweetly innocent in clouds of billowing costumes. As Sears’ cabaret numbers continue, they include lip-syncing to our favourite lines from romcoms, “I’m just a girl asking a boy to love her”, erotic dance routines to pounding music, and further lip-syncing to queer icons, Judy to SOPHIE.

The show adds up to a new perspective, a heartbreaking tale of loneliness, and fear of lovelessness, as without role models to lead the way, how can they believe love will ever come their way. This is a show to redress the balance, here it is, a queer rendition of what the experience of love might bring, for those likeminded souls.  It might be a double-edged sword, as it's far from the sugar-coated dreams of the young Giselle, leading to hook-ups, queer sex and the inevitable disappointments, re-immerging, older and wiser.   

With just the merest nod to Adam’s original score, the music takes us from cabaret classics, to pop, to pounding techno.  The choreography by ballet soloist Hannah Grennell, certainly isn’t very original, but it adds a broader dynamic than the two cabaret artists could sustain solo. The exquisitely trained dancers show off their lissom bodies in varying styles of dance with total commitment.  

The Pleasance main house with its seating around tables in the stalls and balconies is the ideal venue for the show. It’s a less formal arrangement giving a sense of connection between audiences and the performers.

The only mild criticism comes when Sears is stood dead centre stage, a position often adopted, stock still, during some of the voice overs. At these moments, the show feels a little lacking in substance.   Overall, the evening is terrific fun with much talent on display and there can be no denying the importance of the themes which will continue to be broadcast until the day we’re all ‘bored with them’. Perhaps, just as suggested in the show, when that happens, there will no longer be the need to fight for acceptance.

Photography credit: Ali Wright

Patrick Bone, Molly McGeachin and The Pleasance present

GISELLE: REMIX

Pleasance London

Main House Cabaret

10th Apr - 27th Apr

Box Office https://www.pleasance.co.uk/event/giselle-remix