COMEDY: TEUILA POSTCARDS AND THE DARK PARTY

At the end of this month, The Studio will be home to two exceptional events in the Sydney Comedy Festival program. In keeping with the venue’s ecclectic and cutting edge approach, both productions will challenge audiences and shatter expectations in their inventive takes on the live comedy genre.
Teuila Postcards is a tongue-in-cheek view of culture and oppression in Polynesia, which fuses traditional and contemporary dance. Australian dance ensemble Polytoxic has quickly become renouned for their unique style, voice and vision, which aims to debunk orientalist notions of Polynesian culture. In this production, lush, green landscapes meet Elvis, bright costumes collide with missionaries, and the cultural reality of modern day Polynesia quickly becomes apparent.
The Dirty Brothers have a similarly confronting approach, risking life and limb to gain audience favour. Three clown puppets emerge from an abandoned briefcase on a train platform, and so begins their latest masochistic extravaganza, The Dark Party. Extreme stunts and physical comedy dominate their surreal style of performance, where Samuel Beckett meets the Tokyo Shock Boys.

While not for everybody, these  cutting edge comedy shows will certainly be worth the risk for the curious.

Teuila Postcards 29 April-2 May. The Dirty Brothers 28 April-3 May. The Studio, Sydney Opera House. $20-$35, 9250 7777, www.sydneyoperahouse.com