Can circus be political? Re/SISTA Cabaret’s answer is a resounding heck yeah. In the work of this wonderful troupe, acrobatics and feminist resistance feel like the most natural combination in the world. This show draws you into its embrace, uplifts and revives you, and sends you back out of the circus tent fired up to make some change.
Compere Ophelia is like the best friend/aunt (depending on your age) everyone wishes they had. You get the sense that every time she opens her mouth, in the show or out of it, supportive and radical wisdom flows out. She summons bonds of sisterhood from the audience, making it clear that the sisterhood is trans inclusive – “I don’t care what’s between your legs!” She is clear and unapologetic about the mission of the show – “resisting the patriarchy and constructs of gender!” “I don’t know about you, but I’m so fatigued”, she confided to the audience when I went on Saturday. “But joy is resistance, rest is resistance. And then we have to go out and act.”
Brighton Fringe Festival: The Ultimate Guide
The acrobats each stunned in performances that encompassed softness, grace, fierceness, and phenomenal strength. Outfits ranged from sequined leotards to a leather body harness to checked trousers and a crop top. You got the sense that each outfit and each act was completely authentic to the performer. One of my favourite acts was two women doing aerial acrobatics in tracksuit bottoms and bras to background music of hushed beauty. I found myself stunned and moved by the combination of grace and rippling muscles. Is there a more moving depiction of women claiming their power?
The female power at Re/SISTA Cabaret goes hand in hand with love. “Who do you love and why?” Ophelia asked members of the audience, and I almost choked up at the answers. On her instruction to “Kiss your friends! Tell your friends you love them!” the tent broke out into a chorus of happy kisses. It’s evident that the troupe have genuine love for, and pride in, one another – Ophelia and Lucinda, the hoop performer, have known each other for 13 years, she told us, and consider each other sisters. Ophelia introduced us with glowing pride to the female tech and crew members – “we have two men, but they’re gay”, she explained.
My friend and I left feeling warm, fuzzy and fired up, and my friend told me she was going to push for her workplace to make more of a difference. Re/SISTA Cabaret’s magic enters through your senses and gets right into your bones. If you get the chance, I urge you to go. This special circus show is a fiery, reviving tonic for sisters of all stripes.
Anjali gives Re/Sista Cabaret five stars.Re/Sista took place at Big Puck in The Circus Yard on May 17 and 18.
Brighton Fringe: Tickets
