Scarred for Life

Scarred for Life
Josh Belperio. Adelaide Cabaret Fringe. Carlcew Ballroom. 22-24th June, 2017

Who would have thought that a bicycle accident would be the impetus for a one-man cabaret show? Certainly not this reviewer, but in Scarred for Life Josh Belperio allows us into his pain and suffering with humour, complemented with touches of pathos and love.

Right from my arrival at the Carclew Ballroom I am transported to the ambience of a hospital. The front of house crew are wearing blue hospital scrubs with red surgical hats. The audience are also given hats to wear, accompanied by perspex tickets and a song list that we must promise not to open until after the performance.

The pre-show experience is also highlighted with the incessant beep of a heartbeat monitor together with ominous rumbles. As the show nears, the heart-beat quickens and rises in pitch until Belperio himself appears in black trousers with shirt, bow tie and piano keyboard braces and shoes.

Mentored by Michael Griffiths and Amelia Ryan, and vocally coached by Rosanne Hosking, he takes us on a journey of his life with music and well-rehearsed patter.

We begin with his childhood and inability to master sport, or, in fact, any stereotypical male hobbies. After realising that a career as footballer is out of the question, he turns to piano only to injure his hand and so produce his first scar. We are even treated to a glimpse of his childhood performance clothes hanging near the grand piano.

All the while, even though he tells us in song ‘I Stuffed Up’, they were fun times.

We then skip rapidly to late teenage and early adulthood years, his career development and the meeting the love of his life, Matthew Briggs, who also produced and directed the show. This relationship forms an integral part of the show and is sincerely and honestly related. We become part of Belperio’s life as he falls in love and then commits to this union.

The main focus of the performance is the critical accident that changes his life forever; his crash with a car and resulting damage to his spleen and the removal of fifty percent leaving an eight-inch scar.

Even though this is a serious event, the songs ‘I.C.U’ and ‘Sample Pack of Information for Families of Deceased Parents (Spare Copies)’ keep us laughing while still amazed at the life-threatening consequences this accident could have.

One of the highlights of the night that creates hysterics is Belperio’s graduation back to the ward (and back to wearing underwear), not realising that to the observer the said underwear looked transparent. He wears it proudly until tipped off by his father.

The mood then becomes serious as we, the audience, are actually shown his scar and Belperios’s understandable reaction.

But, he reminds us that in Japanese pottery, cracks are filled in with gold and ‘cracks are how the light gets in’.

This leads to a section highlighting relationships and their importance to recovery and life in general, whether they be gay or straight. His partner’s poem as a comment on Belperio’s scar, ‘A Scar of Ethereal Beauty’, drew a tear from many in the audience.

But we are not left in this mood. At the end of the performance, his partner produces a kiddie bike and Belperio rides into the sunset to the strains of ‘Get Back on Your Bike”.

Special mention should be made of Mark Oakley’s lighting, perfectly matching every mood with limited resources and a small space to work in.

Josh Belperio is an emerging cabaret artist but develops an instant rapport with his audience with his sincerity and vulnerability. He had a few moments when he became lost in the material, but freely admitted it and moved on with honesty and was instantly forgiven by the audience. This will smooth out during the season.

I am looking forward to seeing how his voice develops with experience and age as I think he will be a name to watch in the future.

Josh keeps insisting he is a loser, but he isn’t. Even though his life experiences are certainly extreme, they have made him the person and performer he is and his life is richer for that.

Barry Hill

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