REVIEW: Covered
Sarah Ward is as clever as she is musically adept. In 2014 she won a coveted Helpmann Award for a one woman cabaret show, which she performed in the nude. Her confronting style and mesmerising musical talent earned her critical acclaim and gained a loyal following.
In this month’s Sydney Festival, Ward once again appears as the outrageous diva, Yana Alana. But this time around she is fully clothed and reclothed in a flurry of costume changes in which she dons everything from sequins to a boob tube. Fittingly enough, her current show is called Covered.
As Yana Alana she “covers” a breathtaking range of musical icons including David Bowie, Puccini, Laurie Anderson, Sarah Vaughan and the Beatles. Her musical skills and vocal range are truly mesmerising. Everything in the show is “covered”, including the banter between numbers, in which the lyrics from a range of pop hits are cleverly quoted.
Like all truly great cabaret shows, Covered confronts gender stereotypes, challenges questions about sexual roles and takes the audience on an emotional rollercoaster ride in which nothing is off limits and everything is fair game. The Spiegeltent in Hyde Park with its circular seating and Roaring 20s motif is the perfect setting for an intimate cabaret show. Sarah Ward’s queer sensibility, outrageous humour and incredible music talent make for an exciting, engaging and thoroughly enjoyable night out.
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