Reuben Kaye At Darlinghurst Theatre

Fresh off an award winning and critically acclaimed run at the Adelaide and Perth Fringe Festivals the wonderfully funny and camp Reuben Kaye is set to return to Sydney’s Darlinghurst Theatre.

Speaking with City Hub Kaye spoke about how he got through the torrid year that was 2020 and is excitement to return to Sydney.

Reflecting on 2020 Kaye said he survived the year with thanks to “optimism, Lexapro, a very good mental health plan, and a subscription to Vintage Cellars.” Despite this young in cheek answer Kaye explained that the hurdles of 2020 also provided an incredible amount of inspiration for his latest show.

“The lockdowns were sort of like a joke writing boot camp,” said Kaye. “I was able to write a whole bunch of new material and this brand new show – which has just won the award for ‘Best Cabaret’ and got five stars in the Adelaide Advertiser, which I was very excited about because they never give five stars. The show speaks to a lot of the experiences of a population that has been locked up, a population that has been locked down, and a population that has been solid on wellness, mindfulness and all of these industries that feed on the misery of humanity to try and fool us into thinking we need to self-care, self-love, self-actualise and self-realise instead of looking around and seeing that the world has failed us a little bit. But it’s also funny.”

When explaining the evolution of his shows Kaye described the process as “as continually putting pressure on a lump of coal trying to make a diamond.” That resulting diamond being himself, of course.

“I like to think of myself as a diamond. I’m shiny, I love to be polished and I’m best being fingered by the very wealthy.”

These upcoming shows at the Darlinghurst Theatre are particularly exciting for Kaye because these will be the first run of shows in Sydney where he feels his voice is at peak fitness following vocal surgery.

“My last gigs at the Darlinghurst Theatre were the first time I had sung since I had vocal surgery in the UK. Those last gigs were really momentous and exciting for me to test out the voice but I’m really excited to come back now with a show fit set of pipes.” 

So for anybody still contemplating whether or not to attend Kaye says, “Get on down. I am the Lamborgini of cabaret. I’m red, I’m shiny, I’m expensive, and on good day I can fit four Italians inside of me. Why wouldn’t you want to see this award winning cry for help!?”

Mar 24-28. Darlinghurst Theatre, 39 Burton St, Darlinghurst. $55+b.f. Tickets & Info: www.darlinghursttheatre.com