5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche (Imprint Theatricals)
Brisbane Powerhouse, Visy Theatre
June 16 – 21
Following their February run as part of the Melt festival celebration of queer arts and culture, the lesbian lady sisters of the Susan B. Anthony Society for the Sisters of Gertrude Stein are back at the Brisbane Powerhouse, offering up a second helping of quiche and the resulting shenanigans are as funny as ever.
“5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche” is a gloriously messy, interactive comedy, sure to be the most outrageous community meeting of your life. The show begins before the audience has even all entered, welcomed as we are by some of the self-described widows, to be given our nametags (just call me Evelyn) for the meeting and photographed from stage as we wait in our seats.
It’s clear this is going to be a hilarious, shared experience of 1950s kitsch and quiche. It’s 1956 in an unnamed middle-American town at the height of the Cold War and a communist attack soon leaves the sisters bunkered together to confront an apocalyptical future.
The charming members of the society’s executive are a mixed bunch of distinct characters. And the performers make a stellar show out of their over-the-top personas, especially in confession of their true selves. And their ad-libs give an added vitality to the night’s entertainment. The whole ensemble is a joy to watch. As Events Chairwoman, Wren Robin, responsible for ensuring this year’s Annual Quiche Breakfast is the best ever, Lauren O’Rouke is every bit Stepford Wife in appearance, even if not in manner. Her eager misjudgement of social cues is played to ditzy glee. And as President Lulie Stanwyck, Catherine Alcorn is perfect as the society’s egg-loving matriarch, able as she is to evoke laughter from just a stern look or eyebrow raise.
Through confrontation of fears, confession sharing and commitment to respecting the egg and the mighty quiche, Lauren Jackson, Ashlee Lollback and Bianca Zouppas are all also memorable as their largely clueless characters.
“5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche” is a fast-paced, energetic show, full of witty double-entendres, puns in parody of sexual repression and audience participation as the ladies’ proud proclamations are announced. And given its smash Off-Broadway run and cult hit status, it is a privilege to have the stellar cast of five talented ladies breakfasting in Brisbane sharing their ‘no men, no meat, all manners’ way of looking at the world. If you have not yet experienced their prize-winning quiche, do yourself a favour, for this is a soiree of silliness that is sure to satisfy with its raucous humour.
Blue Curtains Brisbane 