On the eve of a UK tour, James Welsby, the founder and Artistic Director of cabaret-burleseque troupe YUMMY, is reflecting on some of the once-traditional aspects of their shows that will no longer be possible because of COVID-19.
‘We certainly won’t be moving through the audience and climbing over people like we used to, and unfortunately I can’t choose my audience fave and make out with them anymore either – but we’ll just relegate that to a golden era in history and look back fondly,’ he laughed.
Welsby, who goes by the nom de guerre Valerie Hex when performing as YUMMY’s MC, is preparing to open a new production, YUMMY ICONIC, in Melbourne next week. After a short season, the production will transfer to London’s Underbelly Festival for four weeks, after which a national Australian tour beckons.
Given how heavily the troupe’s previous shows relied on audience participation, Welsby said he and his fellow artists are still working out how to stage the new production in a way which keeps both artists and audience members safe.
‘All audience interaction in the last couple of years has been completely pulled. Cut not just to a minimum, but non-existent. But now that things are kind of returning to a new normal, we’re trying to see what possibilities there are. We have some strategies up our sleeve to engage with the audience again in a live and intimate way that still has a COVID-safe buffer,’ Welsby explained.
One of the challenges for the YUMMY team is making sure audiences and artists alike are kept safe without losing the intimate and playful aspects of the company’s productions.
‘I would never hesitate about holding my microphone out into the face of an audience member before, but now that’s kind of a safety risk for them and for me,’ Welsby explained.
‘We used to bring up people on stage to be the mayonnaise in a [human] sandwich and a couple of other moments – I won’t give away any spoilers – but the audience is consensually invited to participate in the show at times, and we can very good about reading body language and asking people if they to want to do that. And if there’s even a flicker of hesitation, we would move on and would never press on anyone who doesn’t look interested.’
Also gone are the once-traditional post-show photographs with performers, Welsby added sadly.
‘We are not doing that any more. We will have a large photo wall with photos of us up there instead, so audiences can pose in front of that and take a pseudo-photo with us. So we’re trying to kind of create an approximation of that experience, because that’s something that people love and it’s like a fun little souvenir.’
An intimate celebration of joy
While such changes are necessary to limit the spread of COVID, Welsby is adamant that the central conceit of YUMMY ICONIC will be unaffected by the introduction of COVID-safe guidelines.
‘One of the beautiful things about cabaret as an artform is there is no fourth wall … it’s always been an intimate artform that connects more highbrow and lowbrow audiences, because it was always political in nature and has a very sharp message delivered in a really entertaining way,’ Welsby said.
So what message lies at the heart of shows from YUMMY Productions?
‘YUMMY has always been a space for femininity, and over the years we have actually never held space for masculinity in our shows – that’s not our project. We have a range of genders within the cast but are all committed to what we discuss as “the great feminine divine”. It’s about the power of femininity as well as the incredible gift of femininity and the impact that it can have on the world – a really massive positive change,’ Welsby told ArtsHub.
Read: Why classic cabaret still resonates
In the years since the first Yummy production was staged in 2015, Welsby has noticed an interesting dynamic develop among their audiences.
‘Our show is for everyone … [but originally] I always kind of assumed it would just be a show for the gays and the girls. And that has not been the case. Something that I’d never expected is that straight men come to the show and love it – it gives them permission to have fun and enjoy the campness and not feel awkward,’ he explained.
‘I think it’s because they see these beautiful burlesque women and they’re like “Oh yes, this show is for me,” and then they see these beautiful drag queens and they go, “Oh, well, maybe this is for me too”.
‘So those boundaries are blurred and what you see is what you get. Like, we’re not trying to fool anyone. We’re all fabulous, gorgeous performers and we’re all there for our audiences to give them a good time,’ Welsby said.
Ultimately, he continued, YUMMY is about spreading joy.
‘We exist to help people have a good time and to spread joy. And we kind of hope that that joy lingers and is transferred to other people, and that they pass that joy on. It sounds naïve, but we’re optimistic that if we can spread joy in a massive way, then that joy will go above and beyond and extend out to people that we never meet and interact with,’ Welsby said.
‘There is a lot of bigotry out there in the world and a lot of people who have such a knee-jerk and violent reaction to gender diverse people and that is a real shame, because this diversity is a reality of humanity … and we have decided to make this a lifelong project – to showcase positive representation and inclusivity in terms of gender diversity.
‘And you know, every show we do, people leave thinking, “That was fun. I liked that,” and they feel a little more used to gender-diverse performers. So hopefully we’re doing good work, and at the same time we’re also making our community proud.’
YUMMY ICONIC runs from 22-25 June at the Meat Market, North Melbourne, followed by a four-week London season and then a national Australian tour.
