Scott Maidment on bringing fizz to the West End with cabaret show 'Sabrage'

As Sabrage returns to Lafayette, director Scott Maidment explains why Vaudeville and cabaret are having a renaissance in London.

Australian masters of variety extravaganzas Strut & Fret have returned to London, collaborating with the Menier Chocolate Factory on their wickedly vivacious cabaret show Sabrage.

Taking its name from the ceremonial practice of removing the head of a champagne bottle with a sword, Sabrage immerses its audience in an evening of excess energy, comic titillation, and huge fun. Featuring the finest circus and acrobatic talent from Las Vegas to Berlin, with some cheeky burlesque and comedy thrown in, the show’s focus is very much on having a great time.

One half of Strut & Fret is the show’s director Scott Maidment. Maidment has worked in circus and cabaret for nearly thirty years, developing Strut & Fret into one of Australia’s most successful independent theatre companies. London Theatre Magazine spoke to Maidment about creating such an exuberant show at the Lafayette music venue in King's Cross, how he approaches audience participation, and the current London cabaret renaissance.

Check back for Sabrage tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

How did you get into the world of circus and cabaret?

I actually started out with Shakespeare, but I was always into circus and I began adding more of it into shows, and then finally moved into cabaret. So, it's been an evolution, using old forms of circus and cabaret to invent something which is more contemporary.

Can you tell us about Sabrage?

Sabrage is when you use a sword or a sabre to slice off not just the cork of a champagne bottle, but the tip of the bottle as well. It's a ceremonial thing, but in our case, the show is like that; something that starts out smooth and sophisticated, but ends up explosive and celebratory.

With such a variety of acts, how did you go about choosing them and showcasing them in the best way?

It’s been an evolution for a long time. Some of the performers I've worked with for over a decade and some are brand new. I often develop the works with the performers, who come from all around the world, and slowly we evolve a language which becomes the through-line of what Sabrage is.

I try to do something that is not a typical cabaret or circus, but gives people a taste of something that is really theatrical, where the show doesn't just happen on a stage. The show happens in, above, and around the audience, so they really feel like they're part of the action, rather than just watching the show from a distance.

There is quite a lot of audience participation in the show — how do you approach that in each performance?

I treat audience participation in a really different way. When people think about audience participation, they think about someone being dragged up on stage to be made a fool of. This is not really the sort of audience participation we go for. It's more like an immersive experience.

In the show there's a massive pillow fight, the whole theatre space is filled with feathers and the fight happens, not just between the cast, but between the audience. Then there's a champagne-pouring sequence and the whole theatre becomes full of bubbles, so you feel like you are actually inside a champagne bottle. It's really about making the audience feel part of the action, not just a victim of audience participation. They're as much a part of the show as the performers.

The show’s venue, Lafayette, has traditionally been a music venue. Why was it chosen for the show?

Our shows are in a Spiegeltent, so that’s in the round. The audience is really close and the stage is usually quite small. If someone's standing on the stage, not only do the audience see the person, but they see audience members on the other side and you get this really contagious energy.

That’s the type of space that Lafayette has created by chance. When I saw the space, I said “this is going to be perfect” because you can get 300 people really close to the action.

Can you say which act is your favourite?

There's a heap of different acts that I really enjoy in the show. I really like Emma [Phillips] who's the amazing foot juggler. Her skills are extraordinary and it's something that you really don't see every day. She’s amazing because she spent two years in China in a tiny village, as the only English-speaking person, learning this crazy skill.

Vaudeville and cabaret are having a renaissance in London currently — why do you think they have become so popular?

There is a resurgence in London in particular. When you go and see theatre, you want something that is really theatrical. People want something that is escapist and there's no doubt that what we’re presenting is doing that for the audience. It's not like there's a fourth wall up and you're pretending to be doing drama around a kitchen sink. The type of theatre we're presenting with circus and cabaret is something really different to traditional theatre.

You work internationally, but what would you say are the best and the worst aspects of putting a show like Sabrage on in London?

I was really excited to be back in London. It remains the centre of the theatrical world and that's a great thing, but it's also hard because there are so many shows for people to see each night. It's a very competitive environment.

How would you pitch the show to somebody who hasn't seen it yet?

It's like having a glass of fine champagne. It starts out smooth and sophisticated, but by the end, maybe you've had too much and you’re giddy and dancing on the tables. That's the kind of energy that I want the show to have.

Check back for Sabrage tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Photo credit: Scott Maidment. (Photo by Ben Walsh). Inset: Sabrage. (Courtesy of production)