REVIEW: HOT BROWN HONEY
Sticking it to the man has never tasted so sweet.
5 out of 5 stars.
Presented by Darebin Arts and the Briefs Factory, this inspirational, empowering powerhouse of a show should not be missed.
It was standing room only at the Northcote Town Hall to welcome in the season of Hot Brown Honey for this year’s Comedy Festival, and my did the crowd holler, cheer, stomp their feet and go wild.
From circus tricks and aerial silks, burlesque, rap and hip hop and all styles of dance, to a powerful lesson on culture, cultural appropriation and interrogating stereotypes for yourself, Hot Brown Honey is a show asking for you to rock the boat. Unapologetic, almost aggressively graceful and fabulously fierce, six female performers of Indigenous, Pacific Islander and Indonesian heritage, tackling an onslaught of gender issues and feminism, sexism, colonialism and racism through a wide variety of performance, humour and song.
Calling out the patriarchy in a wide range of honey comb covered jumpsuits and Oprah Winfrey tear away shirts, the show is both humorous and sobering in the way it presents its issues; leading the audience to both laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation and feel empowered and part of a huge energetic movement towards equality and sticking it to the man.
Performers Lisa Fa’alafi, Kim “Busty Beatz’ Bowers, Hope Heami, Ofa Foty, Juanita Duncan and Crystal Stacey are a powerful pack of female dancers, beat boxers, singers and rappers. Ofa Foty’s live ballads are phenomenal, Busty Beatz is a tour de force as rapping MC of the show and all of the performer’s comedic timing, quick changes and poetic dance moves, set to a mixture of modern R’n’B and hip hop intertwined with traditional and cultural music.
Photo credit: Dylan Evans
The set is bare, with a brilliant backdrop of a light up honey comb hive of activity, which prompts the crowd to chant along with the feminist and equalist manifestos, and pulses along with the music. It allows the performers to completely command the stage, and the performers often rove through the crowd, for the raffle, to heckle guests and to pull them into the performance, including a dance train out the door at the end of the show. Audience participation is a must, from being danced upon by cast to receiving the special prize from the raffle, dancing along and cheering your heart out.
Arrive early to sit in roundtable style seating, otherwise you will be left to the back of the venue in the stalls- regardless of where you sit you’ll still have a great view and a great sense of the energy and pace of the performance.
This show stopping, empowering performance plays at the Northcote Town Hall until 16th April, where it’s beauty, sass and incredible message need to be seen and experienced to be believed.
This review first appeared at: http://www.theatrepeople.com.au/hot-brown-honey/ on 09 April 2016.
