Mother's Ruin - A Cabaret About Gin
Cabaret Festival
Mothers Ruin: A Cabaret About Gin is an hilarious, sultry and inspired ode to the creator’s favourite drop.
Buxom, bodacious beauties Maeve Marsden and Libby Wood put on one hell of show.
Their stunning voices soared and brought light to the darkest corners of the Artspace venue at the Adelaide Festival Centre. With musical director/“toy boy” Jeremy Brennan in tow, a musical stroll through the history of the world’s fanciest spirit is just what one needs on a Friday night.
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Who knew a show could be so entertaining and yet so educational at the same time. Stories of colonial England and the Peruvian cure for malaria were stitched intricately together with soulful tones and belly-laughter-inducing comedic rants, along with strong themes of feminism.
Opening-night nerves appeared early, but the two songstresses reined them in and knocked them out of the park, having the crowd in fits of uproarious laughter on more than one occasion.
Brennan acts as a whimsical tonic to the two women’s gin, with comic timing and a pleasant voice of his own. The three owned the Billy Joel classic “Piano Man”, with a little help from the crowd.
Even without the hilarity, I could’ve listened to those two sing all night long. Both sung with such diction and verve, and in flawless harmony; they seemed completely in sync.
Highlights included a powerful rendition of Martha Wainright’s “Bloody Motherf***ing Arsehole” – a shout-out to every wife of an alcoholic husband – and a crowd-pleasing, malaria-induced performance of “Fever”.
Any cabaret performance containing rap, beatboxing and alcohol, and finishing with three people naming every single gin under the sun to the tune of “I’ve Been Everywhere, Man” is a winner in this reviewer’s books.
A Mothers Ruin: A Cabaret about Gin is being performed by Maeve Marsden and Libby Wood at the Artspace until June 13.
See all InDaily’s Cabaret Festival stories and reviews here.
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