Fringe review: Smashed – The Brunch Party
Cabaret, drag and titillating theatrics aren’t just for after dark. Sate your appetite for something fun, fabulous and risqué during brunch. ★★★★
Brunch is inarguably the best meal – nothing beats having a Sunday morning sleep-in before indulging in your favourite foods over a Mimosa. Or a Bloody Mary, if you’re hungover.
Every guest at Smashed: The Brunch Party is welcomed into the ever-gorgeous Spielgeltent with a Mimosa, while audience members with “meal and show” tickets are invited to a buffet-style brunch of native-Australian-inspired food.
Dining on brunch during a show about brunch is a fun idea, but the time taken to serve food to half the guests means the performance doesn’t begin until 20 minutes after the start time, so guests without brunch tickets are left to awkwardly watch others eat as they wait for the performance to begin.
When the stage does come alive with colour, however, every guest is united in anticipation as our host Jazida appears in a beautiful ensemble of green sequins and breakfast-food-inspired headwear.
The performance boasts some incredible burlesque, acrobatic and cabaret talent, including Bede Nash performing comedic circus acrobatics; Kelly Ann Doll dancing with lightning-fast feet; Kitty Obsidian defying pain with jaw-dropping stunts; the ever-fabulous Le Gateau Chocolat, and Malia Walsh swinging straight from a champagne bottle into our hearts.
Your host for Smashed: The Brunch Party is Jazida.
The cast members have the audience hooting and hollering at their risqué antics, which are beautifully choreographed to a banging soundtrack. Adding to the glamour and fun are the cheeky, glitzy costumes, accentuated by dazzling lights and lasers.
Audiences at this performance were delighted as the cast moved among the crowd, sitting on laps or scruffing up hair. When participants were needed for an on-stage competition, the promise of free Bloody Marys had everyone scrambling to play.
Whether you like your brunch and burlesque sweet, spicy, sour or savoury, there is something to suit every taste at Smashed.
Smashed: The Brunch Party (recommended for ages 18+) is in the Spiegeltent in the Garden of Unearthly Delights every weekend until March 19.
Read more 2023 Adelaide Fringe stories and reviews on InReview here.
