Double helping from two with tales to tell

Former Paris showgirl Margaret Austin will perform her solo show “Please Adjust your G-String” at Evolution Theatre on March 23. Picture supplied

Tales of life as a showgirl in Paris in the 80s, and the experience of online dating for the over-50s are two very different offerings being served up at Evolution Theatre on Saturday March 23 in two one-woman shows. From Margaret Austin, “Please Adjust Your G-String” and from former Gisborne resident Lisa Gooch, "The Man From Gonville”.
Laughs  — and gasps — are guaranteed . . .

Please Adjust Your G-String” is the story of a hilarious OE experience, with a difference.

Margaret Austin left New Zealand in 1975 with no idea what lay ahead on the other side of the world. Blessed — or cursed — with a sense of adventure, Austin went to Amsterdam, Athens and Paris, diving into experiences and situations not for the faint-hearted.

Some of them involved G-strings, one or two were downright dangerous, and all of them added up to a life of unique discovery.

Austin grew up in the 1950s in a conservative household in Palmerston North. She went to Victoria University in Wellington and trained to be a teacher.

But life had other plans for her.

“People ask me what happened to a relatively conservatively brought up young lady in the 50s in Palmerston North that turned her into such an adventurer,” she says.

“When you are on your own in a foreign country the delight is that no one is looking at you — no one knows what you are doing and above all there is no one saying you shouldn’t do that.”

She found the anonymity of living abroad empowering and liberating.

With her infectious energy Austin was drawn to the stage, getting her first taste of theatre at college and later as part of the Victoria University Theatre Club.

She worked closely with her director and dramaturge,  Ralph McAllister who had the gift of being able to turn a straight narrative into drama.

“Ralph saw me in a skit and offered to help me turn my life into a theatrical piece,” she says.

The G-string in the title of the show is a reference to her time as a showgirl in Paris.

“My mother came to see me in Paris and found out what I was doing there which was very far from being a school teacher. Needless to say she was rather shocked.”

Austin said there were several incidents she talks about in the show she could promise no one in the audience would have done.

Audiences can expect “startling” content which Austin is having a lot of fun delivering.

She has performed the show in Wellington at the Fringe Bar and in Whanganui at La Fiesta Arts Festival, to positive reviews.

The Man from Gonville

When Lisa Gooch dipped her toe into the murky waters of the online dating pool after a long marriage, she learned a lot, including that Tinder for over-50s is not for the timid of heart.

“The Man from Gonville”, subtitled “and other adventures from Tinderland” froths with confessional stories, music, visual gags, audience  polls, even a puppet cameo. There’s something for everyone who’s either found themselves at the pointy end of online dating, or has shaken their head at why people put themselves through it, Lisa says.

“If I can’t be a shining example, at least I can be a dire warning.

“Basically, I’m swiping right so you don’t have to.”

Lisa wrote and debuted the show last year for the Whanganui La Fiesta festival, and followed up with a one-off performance at the Fringe Bar.

Having polished “The Man from Gonville “since those well-received experiences, Lisa took the show to the NZ Fringe Festival in Wellington earlier this month.

Now her comic, sometimes poignant, show is ready to hold hands with her old home town of Gisborne.

Lisa credits her time in the lively Gisborne theatre and music scene for honing her performance, songwriting and comic timing skills, and says that creative locals such as Keren Rickard, Scott Casely and Steve Carlyle were inspirational.

“They are all true stories. I’ve been told it’s very relatable. A lot of people have been through a similar experience and thought they were the only one. Or people are curious about what it’s like when you’ve been through a bit of life, to be starting again as a novice in the whole new world of online dating, and trying to stay true to yourself. It’s a tightrope, for sure”

And yes, there really is a Man from Gonville.

■  “Please Adjust Your G-string”  (5pm) and “The Man from Gonville and other adventures in Tinderland” (7pm) Evolution Theatre, March 23. A light supper of soup and bread rolls will  be served between the shows.

Tickets are $15 from Eventfinda, or $20 at the door.