BLAQUE SHOWGIRLS Comes to Griffin Theatre Company Next Month

Griffin Theatre Company will present Blaque Showgirls - Nakkiah Lui’s sparkly, smart-arsed spoof of the so-bad-it’s-good cinematic masterpiece Showgirls - at the SBW Stables Theatre from 1st September to 14th October. 

A lonely kid in rural Australia, fair-skinned Sarah Jane Jones is deathly sure of two things: 1. She’s the best dancer in the whole town of Chithole, and 2. She’s a proud Aboriginal woman. There’s very little proof of either of these things.

So, when a long-lost photograph offers hope of her Indigenous ancestry, Sarah Jane high tails it to the glitziest casino in Brisvegas. Her mission? To land a role in the First Nations burlesque spectacular: ‘Blaque Showgirls’…by any means necessary.

After a cancelled season at Griffin last year, Blaque Showgirls returns larger than life with Nakkiah Lui (Black is the New White, Black Comedy) delivering her trademark mix of wit, social commentary, and balls-to-the-wall silliness with a throughline of Indigenous pride. Limelight Magazine heralded Nakkiah Lui for ‘pivoting improbably smoothly from outrageous hilarity to heartrending pain and injustice in a kind of one-two move that hits you in the gut.’ 

The luminous Stephanie Somerville (Chalkface) fan kicks her way to the front of the chorus-line! Superstar director Shari Sebbens (Superheroes, City of Gold) jam-packs a long-awaited, pint-sized rhinestoned arena spectacular into the SBW Stables Theatre in 2023. 

Griffin Artistic Director, Declan Greene expresses his excitement for the show, reporting that it is absolutely “far too big for the space”. Greene says, “it’ll be exciting and overwhelming and overstimulating to see…it’s a spectacular First Nations casino burlesque drag show with high kicks happening inches from your face. There’s a level of engagement to that kind of spectacle you don’t get in bigger spaces.’ 

CO-DIRECTOR Shari Sebbens CO-DIRECTOR Ursula Yovich SET & COSTUME DESIGNER Cris Baldwin CHOREOGRAPHER Sani Townsend SOUND DESIGNER & COMPOSER Jessica Dunn LIGHTING DESIGNER Verity Hampson STAGE MANAGER Isabella Kerdijk COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT LEAD Neville Williams Boney WITH Matt Cooper, Matty Mills, Angeline Penrith, Stephanie Somerville

DATES: 1st September – 14th October 2023

PERFORMANCE TIMES: Monday to Saturday at 7pm; Saturday at 1pm. 

LOCATION: SBW Stables Theatre – 10 Nimrod Street, Kings Cross

BOOKINGS: https://griffintheatre.com.au/whats-on/blaque-showgirls-2/ or (02) 9361 3817

TICKETS: Full $62 / Seniors, Previews $52 / Concession $46 / Under 35 $38

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