We sent Darryl J Carrington along to Mary Bijou’s Cabaret to review it for us. Read on, and enjoy!

I was met at the door of the four elms by a grumpy looking reindeer and other curious looking characters. I was enticed in by the smell of mulled cider and friendly faces. What I found was a fantastic cabaret setting, with a lovely warm Christmas glow about it.

From the off, Mary Bijou did not disappoint, with the charismatic host George Orange opening the proceedings, welcoming us and making us laugh straight away with his quick wit.

What followed was a delightful mix of incredibly high skilled performers, presenting well thought out and witty acts. Each with their own take on Christmas happenings, like Anna’s Austrian hula hooping yodeler, who reminded me of that crazy uncle everyone has!

Laura Moys’ Christmas angel routine was very funny and showed off her incredible control on the Chinese pole.

Kitsch’n’Sync’s ice skating routine had me in absolute stitches, as they paraded a ridiculous dance around the stage!!

Paul Evans singing Santa baby, was also a massive highlight of the first act, having the audience screaming with joy.

Jani’s triple cloud swing was like no other act I’ve ever seen. Tying himself in impossible knots and releasing himself with death defying drops – a true craftsman.

Hannah’s singing ballerina was also beautifully executed, and showed what is possible when using the voice and aerial equipment at the same time, very mesmerising.

There was a great dance done by the Kitsch’n’Sync girls and Mark who made a lovely nutcracker ballerina. 

As with all of Mary Bijou’s work, there was great use of physical theatre. Stories were being told in a very witty and amusing way.

I especially enjoyed, Anna and Tom’s ignored wife trapeze routine and Laura’s Virgin Mary on the back of a donkey smoking a fag gag.

During the performance some burglars got in and invaded the stage with a lovely dance/acro routine that surprised everyone! Where did they come from?

And some boxes danced and a pig and turkey emerged leading to the turkeys demise.

To top it all off George and Anna did a lovely ski workout, zat was full of laughs ya. That led into the wonderfully talented reindeer Adie Delaney, the big finale act that did not disappoint. With some really technical and impressive swinging trapeze sequences, she beautifully blended her character of a depressed reindeer that had us on the edges of our seats with excitement and laughter.

What a fabulous cabaret, one of the best I have seen. Was so lovely to see a Christmas cabaret that was not afraid to question the norms, but be incredibly amusing at the same time. I can’t wait to see the next outing by Mary Bijou.

For me; five stars!!!

Photographs by Tom Beardshaw

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