The Tiger Lillies at the 30th Stage Songs Review: “The Seven Deadly Sins”, the grotesque and dark cabaret
The Tiger Lillies introduce “The Seven Deadly Sins” at the 30th Stage Songs Review, connecting dark cabaret, the grotesque and opera. Puppets inspired by Punch and Judy lead through songs about each sin in a story drawing on the traditions of Brecht and Weill.
Tiger Lillies, consisting of Martyn Jacques, Adrian Hughes and Adrian Stout, with Nathan Evans and Alice Holland-Ballard, will appear on the stage of Impart Song Theatre on 27 March 2009 as part of the 30th Stage Song Review.
The band will present “Seven Deadly Sins”, the latest programme by this eccentric English avant-garde group founded in London in 1989. Tiger Lillies' style draws on European cabaret, particularly Brecht and Weill, opera, grotesquerie and black humour.
The band’s image comprises obscene, surreal, blasphemous lyrics written by falsetto singer Martin Jacques, unusual costumes, make-up and original instrumentation. “Siedem grzechów głównych” depicts humanity’s journey from paradise to hell, a mischievous, postmodern take on Adam and Eve’s myth. The first parents appear as puppets inspired by Punch and Judy, figures rooted in British puppet-theatre tradition for hundreds of years. In the Tiger Lillies’ version, however, they are Punch and Jude, a gay couple from the era of civil partnerships. Each deadly sin has its own song in this dark, perverse spectacle.
Event details
Tiger Lilies
26 March 2009
Impart Arts Centre
Wrocław