Buttocks up: Derrière on a G String at Kings Head Theatre
A show with a title called Derrière on a G String conjures up all sorts of expectations about the type of smut that you might encounter. And what flesh might be on display by some unsuspecting performers. But fortunately, we’re at the Kings Head Theatre in Islington, not some seedy location elsewhere in London, so there isn’t much to fear. What we have is a mostly silly dance-and-movement spectacle set to classical music.
If there is a way to describe the piece, it would be: a day in the life of a young man (played by Sammy Moore), surrounded by his friends, told through dance and movement and comic sketches. There’s waking up in the morning and getting to work, waiting for a bus, builders on a construction site, swimmers getting a bit frolicsome, and party goers getting nasty. Things take an interesting turn with ladies shaving in the bathroom and men tap dancing while farting. It all is done in the best possible taste, with only the occasional flash of a buttock. Moore has a natural comic timing and an ability to strip down to the bare essentials, quick as a flash.
The rest of the ensemble comprises multi-talented performers who can both dance and provide comic relief. Alice O’Brien draws laughs (or discomfort, depending on whether you’re at the receiving end) from her sexually provocative stare at audience members. Ena Yamaguchi initially pretends to be an elderly, serious dancer before suddenly breaking character in an outlandish way.
But what is most memorable is how the performers take the seemingly everyday and give it an unexpected twist. The vaping youth on a street corner exhale vape smoke. It becomes a dreamlike dance sequence surrounded by their own self-created smoke machine. There’s so much going on that seeing this show more than once would be best to take it all in. You get the feeling that the creators may have hit upon a concept that could travel very well and have a long life ahead of it.
Directed and choreographed by Alfred Taylor-Gaunt, Derrière on a G String teases audiences until 7 June.
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Production photos by Charlie Flint
