C'est Barbican! Barbican Pit, London
Duckies among the luvvies
By Madeleine North for The Independent on Sunday

The Barbican - purveyor of Beckett festivals, Shakespeare staples and coruscating satires on the Troubles. And one of the last places you'd expect to find an act called "Miss Kick Does Seven Cocks". But along with "Nacho Snatcho", "Live Sex Change" and "Stilettos of Death" (to name but a few), these are the delights on offer at the RSC's former London home this Yuletide. The kids would love it. But they're not allowed in. So grown-ups, this one's for you...

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Donald Hutera has far from harmless fun:

C'est Barbican!
By Donald Hutera for The Times


ADULT Londoners desperate for an alternative to pantos and family-friendly ballets need look no further than C’est Barbican! This cross between performance art with a gay sensibility and the Moulin Rouge is the work of Duckie, a collection of non-mainstream performers who specialise in “progressive working-class entertainment”. Expanding from their original base at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern in London, with this show Duckie transfers its own highly original, underground take on a commercial subculture directly into the bowels of the City’s major cultural institution.

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Hello, Duckie
If the fat ballerina doesn’t have you in a spin, the emotional striptease will. Our critic sees life and art collide in a cabaret with a twist. By Tim Teeman for The Times:


On the surface, C’est Duckie is just another slice of zippy cabaret: guests arrive at the Barbican Theatre in London, are welcomed by an MC, then shown to their tables by waiters. There is endless champagne. Brightly garbed acts, including the air-scything Miss High Leg Kick, descend upon the tables.

But there is something dark belying the froth. The tagline of the Duckie, the club night behind the show — “purveyors of working class entertainment” — alerts you to something a little edgier than ostrich feathers and showgirls.

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