The Showgirl

"Director Cassandra Tse has infused this glittery disco noir with a sinister underbelly."
Kris Wehipeihana, The Wellingtonista

Harlem, 1979. The lead dancer at the seedy studio soul has just been found dead, and rookie detective John Gonzales is called in to investigate her murder.   But what starts as a routine case turns into an obsession as John's world blurs into a surreal landscape of secrets, sex and soul music. Red Scare's first play without an original score, The Showgirl nevertheless made use of a wide selection of disco-era hit songs.

Writer - Matt Loveranes
Director - Cassandra Tse
Production Manager - Bruno Shirley
Stage Manager - Freya van Alphen Fyfe

Costume Designer - Lisa Kiyomoto-Fink
Lighting Designer - Aaron Blackledge

Cast - Brittany Goss, Deborah Eve Rea, Ed Blunden, Jordan L. Rivers, Margaret Ortega, Maria Jones, Rodney Bane.

---

"The plot twists, and twists again, like a floor of dancers doing the Brooklyn Shuffle... Rodney Bane [gives] a perfectly pitched performance with just enough ham to feed the black humour... Awesome ensemble work. Hours after the curtain call, what remains in my memory are the scenes where all the cast are on stage." - Maryanne Cathro, Theatreview

"Rivers as Gonzales is appropriately reserved as the grieving detective with a secret. Goss gives Cruz depth with a layer of flirtiness over a realistic centre. Bane captures Amoroso’s sense of loss, and disregard for the rules of society... Nice direction and full commitment from all the cast make this an entertaining watch through the murky narrative to the final outrageous end." - Kris Wehipeihana, Wellingtonista