Beasts of Burden and Other Party Guests review | Bluestone Church Arts Space

Life often feels like a balancing act between the burdens we carry and the faces we present to the world. Personal anxieties, responsibilities and private struggles rarely disappear, instead following us through our daily interactions. In Beast of Burden and Other Party Guests, cabaret performer Miss Friby transforms these universal experiences into a bold, highly physical work that blends comedy, dance and theatrical spectacle. The result is an unpredictable exploration of the "beasts" that accompany us through life, and what happens when we finally invite them into the room.

The party kicks off with Miss Friby encased in a gorilla suit, performing a vigorous dance routine. She gradually removes the costume piece by piece, suggesting the shedding of a persona, burden or inner beast. Yet the transformation is not finished. Even after revealing the human figure underneath, she continues to move with the same physicality, blurring the boundary between human and beast with the implication that the two are intertwined rather than separate identities. This idea is reinforced in later party games, during which Miss Friby mimes animalistic gestures and lip syncs a cacophony of beastly sounds that are abruptly curtailed.

Another act has Miss Friby speaking to the audience - the guests at the party - and getting them to mingle, prompting us to invent witty remarks, speculate on relationships and build fleeting narratives about people we've just met. These "conversations" are amusing, thanks in large part to Miss Friby's improvisation, but they also expose the artificiality that underpins many relationships. In a show concerned with baggage and personas, our host reveals social performance as another beast lurking beneath the surface. 

What elevates Beast of Burden and Other Party Guests beyond a collection of disparate acts is the coherence of its thematic vision. Whether having fun with tomatoes or walking in very loud shoes, Miss Friby continually returns to questions of the weight we carry, the facades we construct, and the rituals that shape these exchanges. These emerge through clever humour, dynamic movements and audience interaction. By the end, the various beasts of the title, our anxieties, identity and social practices, have been examined with insight and generosity.

A couple of ideas are a little clunky or awkwardly executed including a sequence where she sucks out audience members' beasts, and a series of intentionally mediocre magic tricks. While there is potential to flesh these out more, as they stand, they don't develop beyond their initial premise and lack the payoff to the rest of the show.

Beasts of Burden and Other Party Guests is a carefully considered unpacking of its core themes through a deliberately eccentric structure. While not everything lands with equal impact, the concept accumulates in intriguing and unexpected ways. At the centre of it all is Miss Friby, whose commitment, physicality and commanding stage presence ensure the production remains engaging from beginning to end.

Venue: Bluestone Church Arts Space, 8A Hyde Space, Footscray
Season: until 21 June | Fri - St 7:30pm, Sun 6:30pm
Duration: 90 minutes
Tickets: $35 Full | $28 Concession
Bookings: Maribyrnong City Council

Image credit: Sonder Visuals