For the next two weekends, the Bi-Co Theatre Department is performing their fall show cabaret, CABOOSH, directed by visiting professor Emmanuelle Delpech. It is a never-before-seen show, created and written by the actors and director themselves. Performances are Nov. 10-12 and 18-19 at Bryn Mawr, in Goodhart’s Hepburn Teaching Theatre.
CABOOSH is a cabaret, involving a small cast of eccentric, clownish characters who explore what it means to express oneself and how one uses the mouth to articulate emotions and actions. These characters are part of a cabaret troupe who have been touring the USA for 30 years, each with their own quirks and wild backstories. Led by the charming emcees, Barb and Anvil, the show consists of a variety of diverse performances by the different characters, ranging from tap dancing to disco to French rap, all the while examining the relationships between the different characters and their relationship with the audience and the world.
According to director Emmanuelle Delpech, the cabaret is all about questions. “How can expression bring us closer together? What is truth? How are these artists trying to figure out how to find meaning?” During the show, one of the characters asks: “Do your words have power?”
In a conversation with Delpech, she also stated, “I’m excited for the performers to be in front of an audience and for the audience to receive what they have to offer. I’m excited for the audience to be surprised by what they will see and laugh in a way they’re not used to laughing.”
When asked about the rehearsal and creation process, Emmanuelle Delpech answered: “It’s been really good. We’ve really created a company, it’s eight actors, and we worked all together at first, then we started to shape the individual performances. Right now, I can feel how the cast is bonding and how I bond with them. … There’s a lot of female and non-binary identifying people in the cast so we explore the question, how do we fit in as female and non-binary?”
At a preview of CABOOSH on Wednesday, Nov. 8, the actors were charming, funny, and heartfelt. The audience is immediately welcomed and drawn into the cabaret before the show even starts. The set, framed by an enormous mouth, is very fitting and used by the characters in fun and unexpected ways throughout the show. The bright costumes are very well done and vary to fit each actor’s character, whether they be childish or flamboyant. While the cabaret is truly laugh-out-loud funny, it is also serious, heartfelt and genuinely thought-provoking. Over the course of the various performances, the actors masterfully guide the audience through a rollercoaster of feelings, including humor, sadness, love and rage. After the show, audience members walk out feeling a little happier, touched by the characters’ humor and heart.
Delpech explained, “Everyone created characters, and everybody has some talent, so we’re using the talent they already have and pushing that. The characters are based on them a little bit too, so it’s just pushing that color. They’ve been writing the show so they feel really empowered, they feel like they’re owning the show. So the rehearsals have been really really nice – and tech, which can be kind of laborious, has been really fun.”
Performances are on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 10-12 at 7:30pm-9pm, and Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 18-19 at 7:30pm with a matinee performance on Sunday, Nov. 19 at 3pm. Reserve your tickets here!
