Review: Pokélesque at Theatre Works

Review by Greg Gorton

Over the last few years there’s been a massive uptick in burlesque productions that double as loving homages to the remembered culture of millennials. It might be everyone’s favourite green ogre, a certain boy wizard who deserved better than his creator, or that game series about being a slave trader of magical monsters, we can’t seem to get enough of seeing our favourite childhood memories strip down to their nickers and dance.

Pokélesque, as the name suggests, is Rosie Roulette’s decision to make Pokemon an even sexier story than it already is. Part comedic pantomime, part drag and burlesque show, this is an incredibly fun night for anyone who has watched the animated series or played the games. Roulette is no stranger to such feats, having previously written and produced Fantastic Breasts (and where to find them), while this show is a new iteration on the fringe success before it.

Pokélesque starts simply, as every Pokemon story does, with the audience naming the trainer, the rival, and choosing between the three starter creatures. We then get to enjoy what you could call the perfect encapsulation of an episode - the friend pokemon is stolen by the terrible team Rocket, the rival turns out to not be too bad, and the trainer gets a “jim badge”.

Cleverly intertwined in this story is a number of burlesque performances from a wide range of talented people, each with its own poke-esque twist. 

I think it is fair to say that most audiences will come to this production specifically to see how burlesque and pokemon go together. They go together well. This is, in part, thanks to amazing costumes, wild and cartoon-like in the most-part but carefully crafted to be stripped away, piece by piece. Mostly, however, the credit has to go to the performers themselves. While there were some very sexy moments, I personally could not get enough of when the dancers put humour first. This, of course, meant my favourite part of the night was Mr Mime, though Likitung came close (oh yes, the world’s sexiest pokemon is there).

Between these performances (and making up the larger portion of the night) is the production of that story all Pokemon fans know. Twisted a little with modern Australian references, crossing over into other fandoms, and including more than a few self-deprecating laughs at the show budget, even as a standalone show, this would suffice for a belly-laugh of a night. Jess and James, queer icons from the moment they first hit our screens, received the most enthusiastic applause, but each and every actor was amazing. In a cast of fifteen performers, though, it was so pleasing to know the base protagonist was in the professional hands of Lucy May Knight. As “The Trainer”, it was Knight who was able to set the pace of the show, land those comic beats even when things were a little out of control, and even wrangle the well-meaning hecklers with a funny aside or scrunched up nose.

As a fan of the series (and all-round geek), I had the time of my life in the audience of this show. While it keeps to the stuff most people know, there are little things only insane geeks would know, while I’m pretty confident that if you are the sort of person who only knows the names Pikachu, Ash, and Team Rocket, you’d have enough knowledge to have just as good a time.

Having said that, the expectation to set yourself is to have a great time with people really enjoying themselves on stage, and forgive anything (and everything) that points to a show not quite ready for the big lights.

Lights being a key word, though not the only one. While some attempt at “creative design” was made, the lighting through the night was quite unfair to the artists on stage, constantly leaving them in shadows. The decision to have actors mic’ed was also probably not the correct one, especially seeing how brilliantly every performer could handle themselves when faced with being without one. And the technically complex show definitely needed an extra technical crew member (and possibly prompt book). Roulette’s script is filled with laughter and love, though the plot goes out the window in the second act, and sometimes there are missed opportunities for more performances and less “other” physical comedy. And if you think Chappell Roan is overplayed on the radio, this might not be your cup of tea.

However, this show perfectly illustrates why things don’t have to be “perfect” to be “good”. Or, more accurately, things don’t have to be good to be entertaining. There is even an argument to be made that a smoothly run night of a more polished production might lose some of that love, some of that brilliant improvised humour, and some of that community spirit that is certainly key to Pokélesque.

If you know who Professor Oak is, or wondered if Officer Jenny should be counted in ACAB, and would happily leave Tennessee for a Pink Ponyta, then Pokélesque is for you. If you just want to see some fabulous drag and titillating burlesque, then Pokélesque is for you, too. 

Image Supplied