Arcadia - Bohemian Caberet
Things we loved
- Talented dancers and singers
- Fun and energetic performance
Things we would reconsider
- At times the stage was very busy with activity
From desert dystopia to disco, Arcadia – Bohemian Cabaret by the Cocktail Creative has it all in a fun and energetic show you cannot miss this Fringe season.
The performance centres around the theme of a group in a desert utopia celebrating idealistic social values of the wild and free, which you can clearly see in their costume choices. With a psychedelic soundtrack that keeps your head bopping along as the all-star cast dance their way through decades of hit music. Stories of love and heartbreak are explored between different dancers, but there was no clear overarching plot tying the show together.
The performers, Maddison Lochert, Rachel Durski, Bridget Hancock, Dane Reis, Rachel Vidoni, and Jake Walasek, all have a great stage presence, encouraging the crowd on throughout their acts. Rachel and Dane were especially impressive through their vocal performances, aweing the audience with entertaining duets and powerful solos.
The show is a bit of an eclectic mix of dances, from tap to contemporary, feather fan dancing to aerial acts, and much more in between. This matches with their music choices, as it bounced around from energetic beats and disco to soulful slow love songs and modern pop. They even deliver on their promise of an edgy modern twist on cabaret, with the inclusion of a backwards strip tease, putting on more clothes to the music and cheers of the crowd.
There were a few issues in terms of positioning when everyone was on the small stage, as it occasionally became very busy, thus making it difficult to know who to focus on as they all did different things. The timing of the choreography was also occasionally off, but that didn’t overly detract from the performance as a whole.
Arcadia is a show that will leave you wanting to dance the rest of the night away, as it is overall an enjoyable, fun and energetic cabaret, with a talented cast that appear to love what they’re doing.