It’s a sideshow but not as you know it

AFTER wowing audiences across the globe, The Dark Party are set for their first performance on Australian soil in three years at an exclusive Ballaarat Mechanics Institute show on 15 December.

It’s a rare chance to see the spectacular for the first time or bring some friends and relive the magic.

The Dirty Brothers Sideshow consists of Dirty Shep, Dirty Pat and Dirty Gordo.

Their show The Dark Party premiered in Melbourne in 2008 and since then it has gone on to be Australia’s greatest sideshow export.

The Dark Party is described as visual gothic theatre at its very best.

The Dirty Brothers smash the boundaries of traditional trick-based performance and comedic theatre by placing sideshow stunts into emotional theatrical contexts.

The stunts become secondary to the artistry as characters and scenarios are brought to life through the use of new and old-fashioned theatre techniques.

The Dark Party is surreal, sublime and just plain funny.

It’s driven by a powerful soundtrack without a word is spoken throughout.

The whole piece evokes a silent movie about a trio of melancholic, pathetic hobo clowns.

The Dark Party rattles the cage of modern circus and brings sideshow into the world of contemporary theatre as three lonely dirty ‘brothers’ meet on an abandoned platform somewhere and embark upon a dark disjointed journey.

Lost, disillusioned and mildly amused they stagger through a series of disconnected vignettes where they discover real laughter and true sorrow on their journey through a surreal world in search of The Party.

A field of traps, an arctic blizzard, and a tropical island are just some of the places we visit on our journey through the lives of these hopeless broken men.

The Dark Party is set for Saturday, 15 December at the Ballaarat Mechanics Institute, 117 Sturt Street, Ballarat.

Doors open 7pm.

Tickets are $25 plus booking fee and available from trybooking.com/book/event?eid=443724&bof=1.