“We don’t mince our words – we are loud and proud”
BY ELLA GAUCI, IMAGE BY JOEL DEVEREUX
Dangerous Goods will be storming into Assembly George Square Gardens – Palais du Variété from 30 July to 24 August with a fearless, high-octane cabaret like no other. Created by powerhouse duo Lisa Fa’alafi and Leah Shelton — founders of Australia-based theatre company Polytoxic and acclaimed for Hot Brown Honey and Batshit – this show is a radical celebration of femme strength, rebellion and self-determination. Blending circus, aerials, drag, burlesque and powerhouse vocals, Dangerous Goods ignites bold conversations around identity through satire, spectacle and raw emotion. It’s cabaret as revolution – empowering, unapologetic, and flammable AF.
DIVA spoke to the founders Leah Shelton and Lisa Fa’alafi to find out more!
You describe the show as “fully-loaded and flammable AF.” What kinds of performances can audiences expect to see on stage?
What doesn’t this show have? We’ve got strong women swinging through the air; we got whipcracking, firebreathing beauties flipping the cultural script, acrobatics that defy anyone who dares to wolf whistle; and epic group numbers for days – think feathers, hi-vis, feminist protest party that will have you releasing your rage and dancing your way into the streets ready to burn down the system.
You talk about reclaiming the word “dangerous.” How does this cabaret confront power, gender politics, and cultural identity?
Each act in Dangerous Goods is a reclamation and dissection of who we are and what we stand for. From heart-wrenching vocals that mourn the loss of islands sinking; to a woman’s right to stand in her own naked skin; to the rewriting of Red Riding Hood – maybe that wolf should end up a rug!; to the collective roar of women taking their perimenopausal rage and using it to scream for change. We don’t mince our words – we are loud and proud, silly and rooted in our feelings – and we are asking our audience to do more than just doom scroll but instead, to wake up and take action.
Polytoxic has a reputation for starting with a party and ending with a call to arms. What’s the message you want audiences to walk away with after this show?
We believe the artist’s role is to “make the revolution irresistible” (as Toni Cade Bambara says so powerfully). Everything we do is filled with our deepest joys, and we are driven to make work that is fun and exciting. We love big entertaining numbers and phat beats that will have you dancing in your chair or in the aisles; it just so happens that we also wrap every fun moment with something meaningful to us. We want our audiences to feel joy and rage in equal measure. We want them to be reminded that we are all connected, and to fire up that community spirit, knowing that we are more powerful together.
Cabaret is often dismissed as light entertainment – but your work is overtly political. Why do you think cabaret is the perfect form for cultural resistance?
Cabaret is a place where so many people, art forms and ideas can intersect. It’s a place where satire, song and the physical collide; where the status quo can be challenged; and it was also historically a place where the misfits, the outcasts and the underground met. It’s a place where we can reach a broad audience and ask people to think differently about society. It also allows us to create a world where everyone is welcome, where each of us can be authentically ourselves and speak as individual artists, as well as conjure a frenzy of collective hope.
What do you hope audiences come away with at the Fringe?
Fringe is a powerful space where so many artists speak from their own experience, sharing their stories, worries, achievements, skills and talent. In a world where polarising views are at the forefront of every news report, we hope that each show creates space for more empathy, more compassion and a deeper understanding of what parts of humanity we want to nurture and what we choose to say NO to. We hope audiences come away feeling changed in some way, moved by the experience of gathering together and inspired by the power of the collective.
Dangerous Goods will be showing from 30 July – 24 August (not 6, 11, 18) at the Assembly George Square Gardens (Palais du Variété) at 20:05 (70 mins). You can find tickets here.
DIVA magazine celebrates 31 years in print in 2025. If you like what we do, then get behind LGBTQIA+ media and keep us going for another generation. Your support is invaluable.
