Opinion: Taranaki’s Right Royal Cabaret Fest the perfect way to try something new

There is plenty on the menu for the Right Royal Cabaret Festival, writes Ilona Hanne.

OPINION:

Trifle.

If you aren’t English, it’s a bit of an acquired taste. Trying to explain trifle to my non-English husband one Christmas early on in our marriage left me struggling to make it sound appealing.

How do you convince someone that mixing custard, fruit, soggy sponge, cream, sherry, chocolate and jelly will actually make a tasty pudding?

It was the same with spotted dick and lardy cake actually. Now I think about it, the British don’t really do a good job in naming their culinary treats in a way that may appeal, and the ingredients do sometimes seem less “calculated and thoughtful selection of items that go together” and more “random stuff we had in the fridge or in the scrap bin we don’t want to waste”.

If you ignore the name and the weird mix of ingredients and try a spoonful though, you might just be surprised. Lardy cake may become one of your favourite Saturday afternoon treats while spotted dick might become the perfect winter pudding to serve to your family.

This column isn’t about trifle, lardy cake, spotted dick or any other random British “delicacy” however. It’s about theatre and why you should try something on the theatre menu.

Later this month Taranaki is in for a fantastic smorgasbord of entertainment thanks to the team at the Taranaki Arts Festival Trust (TAFT) who are bringing the Right Royal Cabaret Festival to us. There’s a range of acts from comedy to music, circus acrobatics to drag queens, sword swallowing to an act called The Most Naked.

Sorry, did that last line make you wonder how we got from trifle to strip tease?

Talking to people about the upcoming festival, I have heard a little bit of caution.

“Oh, I’m not sure that’s my thing.”

“It doesn’t sound like something I will enjoy.”

“It’s not the type of theatre I usually go to, I might give it a miss.”

Personally, I think that’s a shame. Seeing a show that contains “political eroticism” might not be something you think you will like, but just like spotted dick - you won’t know until you try it.

Theatre is meant to challenge us. The Greeks knew that, Shakespeare knew that and so did playwrights in every other period of theatrical history. Fortunately for us, the wonderful folk of TAFT also know that.

Theatre is meant to make us sit up, pay attention and think. It’s not meant to be something you half-watch while surfing your phone; you can stay home and watch reruns of a TV show like Friends and do that.

TAFT does some amazing mahi behind the scenes in bringing fantastic theatre to Taranaki and not only do they choose a diverse range of acts, they also make sure tickets are affordable. Looking at the festival programme for the Right Royal Cabaret Festival, tickets start at just $30 and the most expensive ticket comes in at $59. You would probably spend more than that on ingredients for a trifle given the rising cost of groceries.

This festival season I challenge you to try something new. Look at the menu on offer and choose something you wouldn’t normally choose. It might not all sound like it is to your taste, but you won’t know until you actually try it. The added bonus is that thanks to the careful curation of the TAFT crew, it’s a bit like trying something new from the menu of a Michelin-starred chef - you know the quality is going to be excellent no matter what.

So, to steal a quote from Friends, there’s a whole world out there - grab a spoon and dig in.