Retro Futurismus: New World is cabaret meets burlesque inside a circus wrapped in tune! As you nibble and drink under an ambience of haze or pitch black, a scream of strobe lighting heralds the next parody in an otherworldly-themed variety tease.

You don’t know what to expect, until the opening act arrives in the shape of twin explorers Anni and Maude Davey, garbed in sparklers—space odyssey type costume. As they shake booties and perform a jest rap about all that’s gone bad with Melbourne, Australia, the US and the rest of the world, just then, only then – not sooner –do you brace yourself for a blissful (albeit eerie) spectacle of crude fun.

Lights, action! The next act unsettles and provokes you, invites you to get at ease with the female body as a ‘brickini’ woman hatches naked from a fluorescent pupa. You watch as she crafts a bikini made of bricks (rather than leaves) to cover her nudity.

As you clap, clap, clap, suddenly there are roller skates, a monstrosity of silver worm, a swing rope dancer, a flame-haired hula hooper and big dollops of coarse language and nudity amidst sassy acts. With a promise of interludes by a guest artist each week, the fluid and abstract nature of the revue couldn’t shout louder. The oddity is not for everyone, but a progressive audience will stay awed.

The weird and wonderful show is showing at fortyfivedownstairs on Flinders Lane, an art space in a basement. In its multi-stage layout, it’s of no consequence where you choose to ensconce yourself in a rollercoaster night out.

Retro Futurismus is running until July 31st. Book your tickets now, go to fortyfivedownstairs

Photos by Ponch Hawkes