It really has been the toughest of times but, boy, do these girls know how to get up, dress up and show up. In Eros at Gate 69, the Trolley Dollies deliver a more polished act than ever before with loads of rude jokes and raunchy laughs, and plenty of wholesome and hearty inspiration.
The song and dance routines get slicker every time, but the beautiful heart of the shows will always be the raw honesty of these big girly-boys and their gender-bending, boundary-busting ways.
It is Gate 69 so, of course, there is plenty of silliness and singing along, but the Trolley Dollies’ brand of cabaret is not just slap on some lippie and lip-sync to some fab old anthems. The show is written thoughtfully with myth and legend woven cleverly through the story of the history of love.
There is a quick cameo from Adam and Eve, those original sinners, but anything biblical is quickly forgotten when all eyes focus on Eros and friends pulling off their slick routines clad in just shiny black hot pants and the odd studded leather strap.
Eros was the Greek god of love or, more precisely, the god of passionate and physical desire. In some accounts he is the child of Aphrodite; in other accounts he is the son of Chaos, the original primeval emptiness of the universe. Both versions work perfectly in the crazy purple palace of fun.
Eros was said to select his targets randomly and strike forcefully at their hearts, bringing confusion and irrepressible feelings. In the words of Hesiod, the early Greek epic poet, he “loosens the limbs and weakens the mind”. What better props for a modern take on the story of love than passionate (and/or chaotic) Greek gods dancing to classic pop anthems?
Like earlier shows at Gate 69, Eros screams: Anything is possible! Work out who you are and live it … even if you happen to be a muscley, 7-foot god of a man who looks like Eros but thinks he is Aphrodite.
Work out what makes you happy and make it happen … even if that means you are the big buff bloke killing it in a pink tutu and 9-inch heels. No one can do you like you! Don’t worry that people might laugh at how outrageous and sparkly your dreams are; the laugh will be on them.
Eros is all very outlandish and unlikely, especially in this time of plague. Who knows what next week holds so why not call up some of your favourite crazies (we did) and get yourselves down to this fabulous romp of a show.
Eros runs till May 1 and then Christopher has written a one-woman show for Cathy Specific that will run for the whole of May. Book tickets: Gate 69
Eros Cast: Cathy Specific: Brendan van Rhyn; Dr Know-It-All: Christopher Dudgeon, Nurse Fokkol: Rudi Jansen
Dancers: Kyle Jardine, Sean John Louw, Tyla Dee Nurden
Director: Christopher Dudgeon
Choreographer – Sven-Eric Muller
Musical Director – Melissa van der Spuy
Lighting – Christopher Dudgeon
Sound – Eastern Acoustics
Costumes – Organic Canvas + Tessa Denton
Wigs – Tessa Denton
[…] Gods, goddesses, classic pop, Eros is anything but a drag […]