ARTS HUB AUSTRALIA — Moira Finucane, Australia’s very own queen of cabaret bizarre, tracks the rise of burlesque as both an artform and an avenue for sexual expression. Vaudeville, carnival, showgirl, magic realism, music hall, the gothic, dance, Japanese butoh and performance art – Finucane’s special brand of burlesque is all of these, and more.
13 Jun 2007
Moira Finucane
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Performing Arts
ARTS HUB AUSTRALIA — Moira Finucane has been performing burlesques macabre for over ten years now – creating, with collaborator Jackie Smith, intimate theatrical spectacles where variety, fairy tale, cabaret, the gothic, and burlesque are melded into indelible visions of gender, power, violence and desire.
Finucane and Smith’s work in this provocative and rich area has been presented in major festivals, cabarets, clubs and theatres around the world. Their burlesques have nearly caused a riot in a London club, have brought the house down from Edinburgh to Sweden, from the Opera House to Tokyo, from Brighton to Brisbane to Brixton and beyond. They have been gaped at Australia’s National Gallery, been gossiped about by Hong Kong taxi drivers, been wildly souvenired by Scottish fans, and forced critics to declare “you’ll never look at food in quite the same way”. They have been the subject of university lectures, cultural conniptions, doctoral dissertations and audience acclaim.
Moira Finucane is one of Australia's most unique and celebrated performance artists. Her collaboration with award winning theatre creator and director Jackie Smith (Patrick White Playwright Award) has created the signature work of Finucane & Smith. Intimate theatrical spectacles where cabaret, fairy tale, the gothic, variety and burlesque are melded into indelible visions of gender, power, violence and desire. Producing over forty short and full length performance seasons for major arts festivals, theatres, galleries and clubs around Australia and internationally, Finucane & Smith's work has delighted and disturbed audiences and critics with sell-out seasons around the world and in Australia at a myriad of major festivals and venues. Their work has been nominated for 16 Australian Theatre Awards, and won 9, including 7 prestigious Green Room Awards for Most Outstanding Cabaret, Best Design, Best Direction, and Most Innovative Use of Form. For more details, visit their website.
