Little Lark of London

“To come as one, but stand as 10,000”

Creator by Jack Sears and Hannah Grennell, Giselle: Remix is billed as “a queer cabaret retelling of the classic ballet,” which immediately caught my attention. Classic ballets, particularly those like Giselle, are very gendered and focus on heterosexual romances, typically ones that end in tragedy in which the woman commits suicide after losing her lover. This “remix” promised a new version of the ballet, with choreography by Grennell, a Soloist at the Royal Ballet. We begin with audio of an orchestra warming up before Jonny Woo graces the stage, lip-synching to “Stormy Weather.”

After this prologue-like scene, we are introduced to Giselle (Sears) and the dance troupe – Harri Eiffert, Elle Fierce, Spike King and Marie Astrid-Mence – through a performance of “Cystal Lullaby” with the troupe dancing around Giselle as Sears lip-synchs. This sets the standard for how the show will go, as it is entirely voiceover, at times with the original music from Giselle in the background. For the majority of the show, I found myself focusing on the dancers as they were all absolutely incredible and moved around the stage with ease, changing between a range of styles as the story went on.

It was actually quite lucky that I attended a captioned performance, as I feel being able to read the lyrics was quite helpful in understanding several of the scenes. There was also one scene towards the end that was entirely focused on quotes from different queer icons, many of whom I did not recognise without the captions helpfully citing the quotes. The sound is sometimes muffled or too loud for the speakers, making it difficult to understand or to focus on the show itself.

One of the main aspects of Giselle: Remix that I struggled with was the repetitiveness. Though there are dramatic changes in tone, including one quite shocking scene where Giselle switches between watching porn and listening to rom-com voiceovers, but once a scene begins, it tends to go on for longer than it needs to. The club dance scenes go on for the longest, making me wish that there was some more variety in the cabaret as a whole. 

A highlight of the show is its costumes, designed by Laura Rose Moran-Morris, which do a beautiful job of illustrating the different moods and scenes the characters go through. I particularly loved the opening costumes, in which the performers wore leotards and had tulle-covered slips on top, a modern take on the classic ballet tutu. There are also some impressive costumes for the darker scenes of the show, including one that dresses Giselle entirely in black save for her face to leave room for Sears to lip-synch. 

The ending of the show is surprisingly sweet, a heartfelt moment that seems to have been pulled from Sears’s life as the voiceover tells us about James, Sam and Nathan, three older queer students that Giselle looked up to while in grade school. Together, Jonny and Giselle lip-synch to the iconic duet between Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand of “Happy Days Are Here Again” and “Get Happy,” a moment of queer joy and triumph over the struggles that both have faced.

Ultimately, Giselle: Remix is an interesting show with some fantastic choreography that struggles to justify its existence as a remix of the classic ballet. I would have enjoyed it much more without thoughts of adaptations in my head, instead enjoying the performance for what it is – a reflection on queerness and finding yourself in a world where you feel you are alone.

Giselle: Remix runs from 10 to 27 April at Pleasance London in the Main House Cabaret. Tickets can be purchased here.