Bourgeois & Maurice: Pleasure Seekers ☆☆☆☆
Soho Theatre, London

 

Bourgeois & Maurice want to plunge you headfirst into pleasure. No toe dips. Hedonism is their religion. They may claim to have some rules: No Thinking, No Songs, and No Negativity, but in a sparklingly fresh show at the Soho Theatre they break every single one of them, often all at the same time. Lucky us.

The audience is greeted by a giant pinata on stage. Much like Bourgeois & Maurice themselves, dressed like rainbow harlequins, it seems purposelessly gaudy until, ta-da, it opens up into a piano. Even then it has hidden surprises including at various points farting poppers and giving birth to a disco ball pony. It’s the perfect metaphor for the show, it’s highly musical but also inventive, fun, and revealing. And, like with any pinata, be prepared for a few bats to be swung.

The show is a series of satirically poppy tunes that capture those small private moments in our collective angst and turns them into a shared celebration. They have a joyously dark element captured in their side-eyeing daily affirmation ‘You are not being buried alive; you are being planted’. The song ‘I am Horny for Meat’ eulogizes the heroic suffering of vegans as our plant-based friends fantasize that their martinis are being rimmed by Oxo cubes. Another song, inspired by Greta Thunberg, or as B&M call her ‘Greta NoFunBerg’ gustily proclaims that babies are the ultimate eco-terrorists, these crawling womb immigrants should be the ones we build a wall against as they are the symbols of endless future consumption. It’s naughty and the audience loved it.

B&M’s style is semi-improvisational and thrives on audience interaction but every word rings with the precise comic purpose that can only come from the rigor of good writing. It’s a new show but it is more than ready for the spotlight. See it while it’s at its freshest.

 

 

Review by ANDREW HEBDEN

Queerguru Contributing Editor ANDREW HEBDEN is a MEDIA & CULTURAL STUDIES graduate spending his career between London, Beijing, and NYC as an expert in media and social trends. As part of the expanding minimalist FIRE movement, he recently returned to the UK and lives in Soho. He devotes as much time as possible to the movies, theatre, and the gym. His favorite thing is to try something (anything) new every day.