HomeArts & LifestyleBriefs: Close Encounters review

Briefs: Close Encounters review

BriefsAll male boylesque extravaganza Briefs is back in London for a sizzling summer season, this time with an all-new show. The troupe (or should that be haus?) has gained quite the following in recent years and it’s not hard to see why.

A circus cabaret like no other, Briefs is an assault to the senses in the best possible way. The performers, led by the commanding compere Fez Fa’anana, trick, titillate and tease in the Southbank’s Spiegeltent, the perfect venue for this show.

Briefs
Credit Kate Pardey

Opening with a dance number that would do Kylie proud, feathers included, Close Encounters takes the audience on an intergalactic ride through the more adult stylings of circus. Jugglers, aerialists and drag queens take their turns on the stage and each of the buffed up boys is given a moment to shine. None less so than Thomas Worrell, an impeccable aerialist who does things with a hoop we never thought possible – quite the breathtaking display.

Briefs
Credit Kate Pardey

The cast is masterful at making the audience feel a part of the action, and one lucky viewer gets a chance to get up close and personal with the boys with a playful lap dance that seemed to ruffle more than a few feathers. Fez also builds up a good rapport and keeps proceedings moving along nicely, while adorned in some of the most outrageous outfits this side of Drag Race.

Briefs
Credit Kate Pardey

If you’ve seen the boys before, you will know what to expect, and some ideas are recycled – a banana-obsessed human monkey is this time a clock-obsessed human bunny. But there is plenty of new content to enjoy, including the simply incredible, perfectly pitched, pulsating soundtrack, including tracks from the likes of Kate Bush and Bjork. The music comes into its own in the relentless finale, which has to be seen to be believed.

For those who are still yet to see the Briefs boys in action, get a ticket and go!

Cast: Fez Fa’anana, Mark Winmill, Louis Biggs, Harry Clayton-Wright, Thomas Gundry Greenfield, Dale Woodbridge-Brown, Thomas Worrell Director: Fez Fa’anana Musical Director: Kim Bowers Choreographer: Fez Fa’anana Duration: 65 mins Theatre: Spiegeltent, Southbank Dates: July 14th – September 30th 2017

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Lee Gunther

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