Jens Radda’s connection to church is more than a starting point for cabaret show Mass Hysteria. Having grown up attending a Seventh-day Adventist church, he knows the practices of worship first-hand, giving the show a personal perspective on what happens when those familiar forms are taken out of their traditional setting and placed inside a cabaret. We spoke with Radda about his religious upbringing, the appeal of ceremony and why a night at the theatre might not be so different from a Sunday service.
Radda’s time in the church brings both irony and affection to the religious rituals at the heart of Mass Hysteria and the way they are reimagined. "There’s definitely irony in it, but there’s also a lot of intrigue and affection," he tells me. "I grew up around this incredible theatre of ritual: hundreds of people singing together, ceremony, pageantry, symbolism…it’s pretty camp! Now I’m basically taking those ingredients and asking 'what happens if we put this in a NutriBullet and blend it with drag, cabaret and performance art?' It feels strangely full-circle."
There’s a serious question underneath Mass Hysteria however, about what replaces religion as a source of community and collective release. Is going to a sweaty cabaret and losing yourself with a roomful of strangers essentially the modern version of going to church? "I think there’s something very church-like about a great live show. You enter one person and hopefully leave slightly altered," Radda explains. "There’s music, rites, repetition, a shared emotional experience. That impulse hasn’t disappeared, we’ve just found new places to put it and we have to keep making those spaces so we don’t drift into the oblivion of loneliness behind our closed doors."
Radda’s co-stars, Iva Rosebud and Meg Hickey, bring a fascinating mix of conservatory training, drag, cabaret, comedy and performance to the show. Their varied backgrounds mean each brings something distinctive to Mass Hysteria, adding qualities that none could have created alone. "We have different superpowers and absolutely no respect for staying in our own lanes. One of us will bring in an idea, the other two will dismantle it, make it stranger, prettier or stupider, and somehow that becomes the show," he says. "There’s a lot of conservatory training behind it all, we’ve simply chosen to use that training very irresponsibly."
Putting on this cabaret spectacle has given Radda the opportunity to look back at the customs he grew up with, and reconsider just how camp they actually were. "Church is far camper than I remembered and its practise is already inherently theatrical. The robes, incense, giant organs, gold objects, chanting, singing, dramatic lighting, ritualised eating and drinking… we really had a lot to work with," he laughs. "But whether it’s church or cabaret, the miraculous thing is what happens when a group of strangers agree to surrender to the same ridiculous experience for an hour."
FRINGE FIVE FAST ONES
1. My pre-show ritual is painting my face. The only 2 hours of peace I ever get.
|2. If a song was to play each time I entered a room, it would be the South African National Anthem. It’s camp, catchy and in five languages and I sing it ALL the time.
3. If I could instantly become amazing at one skill, it would be costume construction. I have expensive ideas and insufficient sewing ability. Thank god my friend Bryn Meredith is a witch who can stitch and has made all the incredible costumes in Mass Hysteria (and also for all my other shows).
4. If I were forced to eat one meal for the rest of my life, it would be two sushi rolls - crispy chicken avo (I know I’m basic) and smoked salmon cream cheese with soy sauce, ginger and wasabi.
5. The hill I will die on is soup is a drink.
SHOW DETAILS
Venue: Trades Hall, Cnr Lygon & Victoria Sts, Carlton
Season: 30 September - 4 October | Wed - Sat 8pm, Sun 7pm
Duration: 60 minutes
Tickets: $38 Full | $34 Conc | $28.50 Hump Day Wednesday
Bookings: Melbourne Fringe Festival
Image credit: Georgia Moloney
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