Vanishing Act

Not only will you be surprised, you might be slightly confused and taken back by how much you are laughing but you will also get goose bumps.

A raucous cabaret that explores the 21st century obsession with success, Vanishing Act takes a look into why we are all so ‘in it to win it’, and so utterly terrified of vanishing into irrelevance.

Born from the emerging theatre makers, Candy and Rosie, the show portrays their experiences coming out of drama school and into a world full of expectations.

“We realised this sense of expectation is felt by not only us as drama school graduates, but also from our friends from different fields of world too,” they said. “So we wanted to make a show that expressed and explored that anxiety.”

Fascinated by old Weimar cabaret and early century magician iconography, both women know they wanted to create something fun for the audience to enjoy. Using the metaphor of trickery and magic, the show explores the trickery of the mind and the magic of overcoming fear.

“In the show, the two main characters explore performing a vanishing act, the idea of vanishing being used to explore one’s visibility to society if one isn’t at the height of their game,” they said.

Although some dark references appear about everyone eventually dying, Vanishing Act portrays a strong message of confidence in the process. Highlighting that it isn’t incredibly important if you ever get to where you wish to go, whether that be head of Opera Australia or an astronaut, it’s about life.

Back for their second year as a part of the Melbourne Fringe Festival, both women love being able to share their work with Melbourne theatre lovers.

“Fringe is an incredible opportunity to take risks and make bold choices to share with audiences and other artists,” they said. “It is a brilliant platform for emerging theatre-makers like ourselves, to draw in a crowd and get them excited by a wild ride night at the theatre! We also embraced it as a platform in which we could take complete artistic control of our work.”

For only $25-$32 for a ticket, there will be loop pedals, screaming, meditation, red velvet curtains, ’80s power dressing, sexy neo-soul renditions of everything from Prince to Kylie and a surprise opera rendition.

“There is also a lot of eeriness and surrealism, and a lot of comedy.”

Vanishing Act
The Butterfly Club, 5 Carson Place, Melbourne
Tuesday September 27 – Sunday October 2, 8:30pm
melbournefringe.com.au/program?event/vanishing-act