Cab Suave Returns To Gluttony At The Adelaide Fringe

Cab Suave is returning to Adelaide Fringe at The Ukiyo in Gluttony February 17 – March 5 also adding matinee sessions on the weekends with family ticket prices! If you like circus cabaret, live music and 1940’s style film noir mystery then ‘Grab ya tix!’ for this show! Co-director Latonya Wigginton talked to Hi Fi Way about Cab Suave.

Are you excited to bring the show Cab Suave back to Adelaide audiences?
Yes! We had such a fabulous time in Adelaide last year. We met so many amazing people and can’t wait to do it all again.

Can you tell us what the show is about?
Cab Suave’s storyline follows a seemingly very suave Private Investigator, Dick Johnson as he tries to dig up some dirt on a local cabaret club. The show starts with this very classic film noir aesthetic of the callous investigator narrating under a street light, but very quickly it becomes obvious that he is in way over his head as the story explodes into this very camp and sparkly extravaganza with circus acts and live music.

How did you come up with the concept for this show?
The show is co-directed by myself and Ambrose Kelso, and we both have a love of films from the 19540’s – 1960’s, and vintage aesthetics in general. However, we are big feminists and obviously a lot of media from that era, particularly the film noir genre can be quite misogynistic. So we want to create a work that had these recognisable archetypes, a hard-boiled detective, a femme fatale or an ‘ideal wife’, and then as the story unfolds really flip those tropes on their heads.

This year you’ve got some matinee shows. Was there a demand for family friendly shows?
We find at Fringe Festivals there are heaps of amazing ‘made for children’ performances during the day and then at night an absolute plethora of adult shows. Because Cab Suave is rated 12+ we felt like it could really slot into a matinee slot, so families can come and watch it and still feel like they are experiencing all the glitz and glamour of the fringe without having to be out late at night.

You’ve also made sure there is representation of LGBTQIA+ performers. Can you tell us more about that?
Our cast is majority LGBTQIA+, and for us representation is two fold. We wanted to have explicit LGBTQIA+ characters as part of the story, and for those characters to be joyful. The other aspect is to work on stage, particularly in this sort of flashy cabaret scene there are existing expectations about the way you should look. You know, that you should be a certain dress size, or have no underarm hair, or for casting you need to really fit into the gender binary. So I think the biggest thing in regards to representation for us is this message of if you have the ability to dance or sing or do amazing acrobatics your career shouldn’t be inhibited by the way you look, or your sexuality or your gender identity.

What is the best part about being in Adelaide for the Fringe?
Adelaide Fringe is such a hub of artistic work in Australia. We love being able to meet so many fellow artists in one place. It’s really this month of concentrated creative expression, and it is so wonderful to be immersed in that environment.

What are three words to describe your show?
Sparkly, energetic, mystery

Fringe Interview By Anastasia Lambis

Tickets and show information for Cab Suave at Fringe Tix. Grab Ya Tix!