Dynamite-duo Rosy Rabbit and Dolores Daiquiri both co-produce and star in the show, after having produced the Australian Burlesque Festival. The showcase was hugely successful, with sell-out shows across the country. But with The Seven Deadly Sins, they’ve opted to bring something different to the table. “The Australian Burlesque Festival is very much a showcase style event, with one act after another,” Daiquiri says. “But The Seven Deadly Sins is more interactive and fluid, with installation performance art as well as stunning stage shows. We felt that it was a good time for us to explore the more exotic realms of what burlesque can be, and push the feathers-and-tassels boundary to new heights.”
Each sin is explored throughout the night as guests have the option to drink and dance. “This is not your average sit down show, says Daiquiri, “and if you aren’t careful you could become part of the entertainment! The evening is a party, with entertainment and excitement dotted throughout.”
The Seven Deadly Sins is in its first run, but there is hope to run it every few months. This round is held at Chapel Street’s Red Bennies, a popular setting for cabaret and burlesque performances, as well as funk, soul and jazz music acts. “The whole venue is used as a stage and the sins are woven in to the drinking, dancing and cavorting!” says Daiquiri.
Alongside Miss Daiquiri and Rosy Rabbit, The Seven Deadly Sins also stars Becky Lou, Vesper White, Kerry X, Evie Red and Cleave and Daly, each playing a personification of a sin at intervals throughout the night. “Each sin is represented in a different way,” Daiquiri says, “from shadow peep shows to suspended air dance to bizarre fetishesque.”
Each performer has been ‘hand-picked’ by its producers, to ensure each artist is suited to its particular sin. “Burlesque performers generally have a particular image and style of performance,” Daiquiri says, “so we tapped into their individual strengths and stage personas, and gave them fairly free reign to be as creative and experimental as they wanted.”
Dolores Daiquiri stars as a vivacious representation of Lust, bringing a wealth of experience to the stage. “I get to be a little naughty and cheeky,” she says. A seasoned burlesque performer, she has over ten years experience in performing and producing shows. “In 2001 I [went] to the United States and noticed a burlesque revival starting,” she says. From there, she co-founded Australia’s first burlesque troupe with a like-minded friend.
It was then that the character of ‘Dolores Daiquiri’ was born. “The troupe I co-founded decided on 1950s cocktail-style names. I loved [the name] Dolores and Daiquiris, so I became Dolores Daiquiri.”
The Seven Deadly Sins has evolved from feedback received from past performances in the Australian Burlesque Festival. “We added a new show called Empress Erotique, which touched on the darker, more exotic side of burlesque,” says Daiquiri. “We had incredible feedback and the show was extremely popular and highly intoxicating. Not only did the audience love it, but so did the artists.”
It’s the same feeling they’ve recreated with The Seven Deadly Sins. Miss Daiquiri says it has “exotic and fetish flavours that plays with peoples senses and makes them feel slightly naughty!” These are brought into the acts to seduce and entice their audience. “The night has so many glamorous and saucy elements of tease, but also delves into some very raw and heady sensuality,” says Daiquiri.
A good time is guaranteed, even if it’s your first time at a burlesque show. “If you have never seen burlesque, then Sirens of Sin is a fabulous introduction, and will plunge you straight into the deep end! No two acts are the same, and the audience gets to see not only stage performances but [also] installation acts and surprises throughout the night. It is the sort of night where you have to let yourself go and lose those inhibitions…even just a little bit.”
