Vivid Virgens

STOP THE VIRGENS

I saw something last night, and I am still not sure what it was.    



The opening scene of Stop the Virgens

 Described as a Psycho Opera exploring psychedelic myths, it was always going to be challenging. We walked into a theatre adorned with virgins, bedecked in white and whispering sibilant, creepy nonsense in our ears as we made our way to our seats.  The setting was a futuristic matriarchal Queendom where Karen O controlled the moods the bodies of a host of vestal virgins by weilding a giant horned microphone.  It's probably best not to try and explore the symbology too much.  The scene where Karen had a giant lobster hand marked a turning point in my cognitive effort to follow the storyline and I tried to just enjoy the experience. This production eschewed narrative for emotion.  The costumes were otherworldly, and Karen O's voice is truly remarkable, quavering with vulnerability but capable of potent harmony and ecstatic yelps and shrieks, backed by a band of extremely talented musicians and the disturbing chorus of virgins.


Lights on the facade



Imbibing a few post show frothies while taking in the Vivid light show at play on the buildings around the Opera House, Jak and I pondered the spectacle we had just seen.  The best we could come up with was that the opera was an emotional exploration of the involuntary loss of physical innocence brought on by the onset of the menstrual cycle, the pain of loss and the darker side of female love.  I thought Kirsty would have loved it, and it would have been good to have a female perspective in our debrief. Basically we thought it was some kind of secret women's business that looked and sounded amazing.  We both agreed the blood on the virgins white robes and their sexy gyrating dancing at the finale, when they seemed to be singing something about the sweetness of the seed was confronting stuff. Though they finally looked like they were enjoying themselves, not writhing in agony. It's a lot to take in.

Palmer & Co

Earlier, we visited the recently opened speakeasy Palmer & Co for some pre-virgen Martinis.  The joint used to be a taxidermist space, and is now decked out with a 1920's theme, which works well as a casual drinking vibe with a conspiratorial air.  They are serving some great snacky food, like a macaroni cheese and a boast an impressive cocktail and champagne list.  The menu and decor feature prohibition propaganda, and the photos and imagery seem ludicrous until you realised it actually happened.  They really tried to make drinking booze illegal.  Which kind of leads you to thinking about current drug laws and the debate around decriminalisation and the utter defeat by conservatives in the War on Drugs. The argument proposed by the just say no'ers about the disincentive that illegality contributes to choice is no longer valid given the prevalence of recreational drugs in our community and their fully functioning subscribers. 

I see many lights.