Montreal's SOMA International offers puppet shows for grownups.
These days Toronto is talking about a sexy new cabaret that’s just hit town. It’s full of sexy chanteuses and burlesque divas – and they’re all puppets. Cabaret U-Mano is the latest work from the Montreal-based SOMA International, which was founded in 1999 by Serge Deslauriers, Raynald Michaud and Énock Turcotte. It’s playing until February 18 at Toronto’s Diesel Playhouse (former home of The Second City), and will no doubt continue to tour to new audiences after that. (SOMA has already visited Singapore, Venezuela and the UK, among other places.)
I had a chance to chat with Deslauriers recently. He’s the one who actually makes the intriguing cast of characters that stars in Cabaret U-Mano. His background is in fashion and fine art, so he’s able to style wigs, sew costumes and apply make-up just as able as he can sculpt and mold the flexible bodies and expressive faces of his puppet creations.
Canada has a rather rich culture of puppetry (Deslauriers mentions artists like Felix Mirbt and Ronnie Burkett), but the group never really planned to become puppeteers. In fact, Deslauriers says, it just happened spontaneously one winter when they had some time off in Montreal. "You freeze," he says, "So you stay indoors." One night he invited Michaud and Turcotte over for a leisurely dinner and a chance to play with one of his puppets (which can be operated by more than one person at a time). They put on Gershwin’s classic "Summertime" as delivered by Angélique Kudjoe, and, he says, the improvisation just took off.
The trio developed more characters and their first act, and then, on a whim, they applied to enter Montreal’s popular Just for Laughs festival. Because they’re not specifically comedians, they didn’t think they had a chance, but they were accepted and became an instant popular hit. It wasn’t long before news of SOMA International reached the ears of Roger Parent, the producer who helped bring Cirque de Soleil to its major international audiences. Through his company, Réalisations.net, the SOMA boys and their creations were soon touring internationally with a show that seems to transcend barriers of language and culture.
Although Cabaret U-Mano, in which puppet characters "perform" well-known songs in a cabaret-style staging, is certainly sultry and sensual, Deslauriers is quick to point out that SOMA International’s shows are not "adult" in the sense of being lewd, rude or crude. In fact, he says, children have often attended and enjoyed their work. However, the present Toronto run takes place in a licensed venue, so it’s "adults-only" for the moment.
"I want to emphasize the fact that it's not a pornographic show," says Deslauriers. "We never touch vulgarity; it's not what we want to do. We play with sensuality, and that's our line. But if there's anything that's vulgar in the show, it's in the peoples' minds; it's not onstage."
