‘We are not scared to be mad’

Shivangi Ambani-Gandhi on Funkier than Alice, which will perform here next month

Sydney: When four women, a shared social consciousness, savage parody and a complex fusion of music come together, the performance has to have an equally absurd name. And the group Funkier than Alice won’t let us down — their show Love, Lust and Lager: A musical journey that goes straight from the heart to the bowels! will perform at venues across  Mumbai in December.

The foursome from Australia — Shalmalee Palekar, Judy Stubbs, Nicole Murphy and Rita Woolhouse will present a 90-minute, two-act show that combines jazz, opera, raga-fusion, parody, satire, farce, physical theatre, dance and spoken pieces.

“Each of us comes from different cultural traditions, so there is no lead singer in our band. We create collaborative performances that highlight each of our strengths,” says Palekar. Daughter of famous filmmakers and actors Amol and Chitra Palekar, she has trained in theatre and classical Hindustani vocal music. Murphy has experience in musical theatre, Stubbs is a trained soprano and Woolhouse is a cellist.

“We like to experiment with our traditions, and we are all driven by political and social ideology. We usually write original music, dialogues and lyrics, but even our parody of well known material can be savage. We are not scared to be mad,” says Palekar.

So, Marilyn Monroe’s rendition of Diamonds are a girl’s best friend turns into A good bra is a girl’s best friend. “This light-hearted parody is a comment on women who internalise the beauty myth,” she explains. Act II reworks famous Australian songs like Waltzing Matilda, an iconic song of national identity and Midnight Oil’s rock anthem, How can we sleep when our beds are burning?

“This act parodies stereotypes of Australia — and how Australia sells itself — hence the ‘lager’ in the title of the show,” says Palekar. Their message is contained in their music; they use minimal dialogue. “Unlike musical acts that use humour, or comedy acts that use music, we seamlessly integrate our satire with very complex music,” she points out.

Palekar moved to Wollongong, a small city near Sydney as a post-graduate student at the local university, finished her PhD and is now a professor of post-colonial literary and cultural theories at the University of New South Wales, Sydney. Murphy is a solicitor by day, Stubbs a research fellow dealing with the social justice and urban planning, and Woolhouse a cello teacher. “Funkier than Alice lets me explore what I couldn’t as an academic,” says Palekar who has also extensively translated Marathi poetry into English.

“I am inspired by my parents who worked during the day to earn money, and spent evenings passionately following their creative pursuits.”

Love, Lust and Lager: A musical journey that goes straight from the heart to the bowels!, scheduled to perform at NCPA, Dec 12-13, also at Prithvi Theatre and Kitab Mahal.