Produced by Missy and J Twist. Cirque X and Midsumma Festival.
An exploratory work that traverses the foundations of physicality, sexuality and queer joy
Reviewed by Rachael Vasallo
Gasworks Arts Park, Albert Park
Until 8th February, 2025
Tickets: https://gasworks.org.au/whats-on/tender/
Type: Circus, Cabaret, Queer
If you Liked: Cirque Bon Bon, Briefs Factory
Tender is an acrobatic and contortionist cabaret circus that invites the audience to create their own storyline around the one-hour performance. It’s a journey told through several standalone scenes reclaiming the narrative of sexuality and gender-diverse relationships.
Circus is a challenging performance as it relies not on a clear storyline but rather providing an ongoing smorgasbord of multisensory stimulation. Traditional circuses leave us energised rather than with a moral, though Tender sought to challenge that notion, and leaves you questioning the notion of being ‘tender’ in all its warm, cold, erotic and romantic joy. Tender is the work of Cirque X for Midsumma Festival and features an all-queer cast. It delves heavily into the affectionate, sensitive and aching emotions of relationships, exploring them through a queer lens.
Tender contained the bare minimum of dialogue against a soundscape of original music and communicative physicality that guided audience members along by challenging their preconceptions of sex and romance. This is a very hypersexualised night at the theatre, a few of the performances do contain simulated intimacy and kink, though done in a tasteful and artistic manner. Nestled within, are also original catchy pop numbers by The Voice finalist Penelope.
…a bold work, employing shocking visuals that are ethereal, original creations
The physicality expressed by the cast of Tender is nothing short of incredible. Audiences are treated to an exposition of the capabilities of Cirque X. This includes a stunning duet using a barred cube set piece with several impressive aerial performances that contained physicality one would have previously considered impossible. The night seemed to have no limit and with each spin and freefall it kept reaching new heights.
The elements incorporated into Tender, specifically that of erotic performance, were reminiscent of places that historically provided spaces for queer people to express their sexuality freely. These are also spaces that exist with a style of performance that pushes the boundaries of social acceptance to instil a sense of shock in the audience.
Circus equipment made up the overall set design; it was not sparse and mechanical, but rather very warm and inviting. Costuming in this performance was exceptional, featuring custom adaptive pieces. It is cleverly combined with acrobatics and contortion that shocks with the limits of human physically stretched. The most memorable performances are those that incorporated both, as they left the strongest juxtaposing impressions through physical sexual tension and an underscoring of sound composition.
What Tender did exceptionally well is explore pornography through an authentic queer lens – normally a controversial and divisive topic. The interpretation of this work is a reclamation of queer sex. Tender presented intimacy in a joyous and playful manner but was not shy about depicting universal ups and downs of relationships.
The diversity of the cast enhanced the unique mix of performances and stories presented, with cabaret numbers performed by Penelope energetically providing a visual break and an opportunity for the audience to dance and cheer along to some of her more popular songs.
Tender is a bold work, employing shocking visuals that are ethereal, original creations, exploring the depths of the usually untouched performance of the kink sub culture in relation to queer sensualities.
Theatre Thought: How do we differentiate our experience of tenderness between ourselves and others?
Starring Bicon Queen, Missy, J Twist, Chris Barnett, Mitch Wnek and Kenn
