Circus, drag and a larrikin striptease … anything goes in this ‘boylesque’ show
By Daniel Herborn
When kids tell their parents they are running away to join the circus the reaction is supposed to be concerned horror.
But when the father of Mark Winmill, a veteran of the cabaret circuit, heard his son had signed up for a flying trapeze school at age 20, he wondered why it had taken so long.
“My Dad was like: ‘Hmm, you might be a bit old for the circus’, and I said ‘Nah, I’m going to prove you wrong!’” Winmill says.
After his early days as an acrobat at a Byron Bay resort, Winmill became a feted burlesque dancer and trapeze performer in Las Vegas. He went on to co-found the Briefs Factory International collective, which has since toured the world with its high-energy “boylesque” shows featuring a revolving and eclectic group of performers.
It’ll all come out in the wash: Fez Faanana, Thomas Worrell, Rowan Thomas and Mark WinmillCredit:
Their newest production, Dirty Laundry, is in Sydney for a run at the Spiegeltent. Alongside principals and co-founders Winmill and Fez Faanana, the current cast includes cabaret dancer Brett Rosengreen, aerial hoop whiz Thomas Worrell, competitive diver turned drag queen acrobat Nastia (Luke Hubbard), stiletto-clad aerialist Serenity (Dylan Rodriguez), and the “Kamilaroi Cowboy”, Dale Woodridge-Brown, a Circus Oz alum with trapeze and juggling skills.
The latest addition is Rowan Thomas, who does a routine on the Cyr wheel, a circus apparatus where the performer straddles a huge ring Vitruvian man-style to perform spins and tricks.
“Our thing has always been influenced by the variety circuit, especially queer cabaret,” Winmill says. “Variety, I think, is the best way to describe it – it’s burlesque, it’s comedy, it’s drag, but there’s a through line to the show, it’s quite cohesive. What sets us apart from the other variety shows is that we’re very much an ensemble. It’s collaborative; everyone gets to put their two bob in.”
Mark “Captain Kidd” Winmill and Fez Faanana.Credit:
While any Briefs International show contains a generous serve of gym-toned flesh and risqué humour, Winmill says there’s a serious undercurrent to the hedonistic vibe.
“We’ve always kept up with what’s happening in Australia and overseas; we find the political side [of the drag queen scene] very interesting. There’s a real juicy bite underneath all our craziness.”
Winmill considers inclusivity the heart of everything Briefs does, and the group enjoys breaking down the traditional divide between performer and viewer. Every show ends with a meet-and-greet, and audience members can buy a raffle ticket to win a chance to get up on stage.
Winmill says the group is gentle with its audience participants. “We’ll have some fun with them, but we never put anyone down or judge them. We do a striptease with them, but it’s tongue-in-cheek, a play on the Aussie larrikin flavour. Once people become part of it, it’s like they’re our new best friend for life.”
Proud to have survived the massive disruption to the live entertainment scene caused by the pandemic, Winmill says there’s now a celebration of community that runs through the group’s work. “We’ve got the spectacular stuff, but I think now, it’s super important to have some warmth to it and to make something really positive.”
Speaking of the spectacular stuff, Winmill says he has largely avoided injuries across his performing career despite spending his fair share of time flirting with danger for entertainment.
“The thing is, you never actually hurt yourself hanging upside down on your apparatus or spinning like a crazy person; it’s always some annoying little thing. Last season, I almost broke my big toe when I dropped a bottle of jam on it. I couldn’t wear my heels after that, but it was fine – I still camped it up.”
Briefs International’s Dirty Laundry is at the Sydney Spiegeltent until March 15.
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