Picture yourself at a birthday party hosted by the twins from The Shining and a collection of aggressive ghosts, where you’re forced to play “pass away the parcel” as you try to get through the event without being murdered.
This is the nightmarish premise behind Party Ghost, a creepy drag cabaret, meets circus, meets physical comedy show that is both entertaining and deeply unsettling. Australian performers Olivia Porter and Jarred Dewey deliver an hour of macabre, absurdist mayhem featuring dismembered limbs, demonic possession and carefully choreographed physical theatre set against some spiky strobe lighting, all adding to the sinister afterlife atmosphere.
The skill, dexterity and athleticism of the two seasoned circus artists was obvious but it was a shame their physicality was not showcased more. The opening scene sees Dewey perform some impressive trapeze work as he tries to work himself free from a noose around his neck. But from there the show veered more towards dark slapstick than circus acrobatics, which was disappointing for an act that promised to appeal to “fans of high-level circus.”
Audience participation was a key feature, which you’d expect for an energetic show like this, and for the most part it was funny and executed well. But an errant stiletto flung gaily into the audience was perhaps a bit more interaction than the woman whose face it connected with was anticipating. And when the first three rows were sprayed with water directly from the performer’s mouth, it seemed that even Covid is now a distant ghost.
Overall, this was an enjoyable and darkly comic ‘Death Day’ celebration, with a lot to like about it. A vignette set to Adele’s haunting ballad, Hello – where both performers wore small doll’s heads while dancing maniacally – was a highlight that was both hilarious and disturbing.
But with these accomplished performers at the helm, I would like to have seen more of their circus skills.
Party Ghost is at Assembly Checkpoint until 27 August.
