Fortune favours the bold

By Bradley Storer

The classic Latin proverb is handy advice for any audience member entering the realm of Mad World, the new theatrical experience currently running at Vau d’vile.  An immersive and interactive piece, Mad World will yield different paths for everyone who enters, and those who wish can simply hang back and enjoy the show. The real joy, however, is for those who dare to explore and try to unravel the mysteries they encounter.

Set in Berlin, circa 1933, the venue is transformed into a underground Weimar-era cabaret bar, Klub Wonderland. The cast become an eclectic gathering of local singers, dancers and deplorables hiding away from the encroaching shadow of Nazism. The drama begins even before the audience has entered the club, and we are quickly guided through introductions to all of the characters before the evening begins in earnest and we are encouraged to split off and explore.

Each of the denizens of Klub Wonderland is wonderfully eccentric and so delightful that it would be easy to follow one of them all night. Directors James Cutler and Lauren McKenna have done an impressive job crafting the tiny intimate moments hidden throughout the performance and co-ordinating them around the larger beats that make up the central story. The cast are all extraordinarily talented, improvising with the audience behind the scenes without missing a beat as well as singing and dancing up a storm whenever they’re called to the main stage. Under the musical direction of David Butler (who also stars as the club’s de facto leader Peppy), the band keeps up a cavalcade of modern hits magically reworked into the fashion of pre-World War II music. Be prepared to hear Pink, Ariana Grande, Queen and even Eminem as you never imagined!

The floor show on the main stage of Klub Wonderland (which runs continuously throughout the entire evening) is so thoroughly entertaining that it’s almost a disappointment to tear yourself away. The compelling and intricate choreography of Madi Lee evokes the bawdiness of the sleazy Berlin underworld, even as it chillingly suggests the ever growing influence of the Third Reich.

The rewards of wandering further afield are more than worth it, as you find yourself drawn into the lurking tensions and shadowy dealings of the club’s denizens. Pulled into dark corners for hushed conversations, taken backstage to share furtive prayers, invited into alleys for terrifying tea parties? It feels as though literally anything could happen!

Words can only capture this experience to a certain degree, but the closest way it can be described is that child-like feeling of nervous excitement embarking on an adventure into the unknown. Take the plunge down the rabbit hole before it’s too late!

Mad World is being performed 3 – 20 February at Vau d’vile Drag Cabaret Fitzroy. Tickets can be purchased online.

Photograph by Carl McKinnon featuring Sophie Perkins as DamDam.