F Christmas

F Christmas is not for the faint hearted or for those who have a serious attachment to traditional Christmas festivities. The X rated language and full-frontal nudity that feature heavily in the show are far from its most controversial elements. Irreverence for the cheesiest traditions related to Christmas come under direct attack. The performance is a queer and eclectic collection of singing, dancing, circus acts and cabaret that turn Christmas completely on its head.

The fundamental message of this show is that the festive season can be a very dark and depressing time of the year for marginalised people. While the reference to the colonial nature of Christmas traditions lies at the heart of this critique, the way festivities celebrate straight, white and able-bodied individuals is made in a bold and even sometimes crass manner. However, as performer Nicci Wilks states in the opening of the show, “What did you expect with a title like F Christmas?” The audience is duly warned, and the ensemble of exuberant performance artists and talented vocalists unleash their frustration with, and abhorrence of, the flagrant commercialisation and unabashed corruption of this annual ritual.

The show lives up to all its promise of poking fun at Santa, the nativity, gift giving, Christmas trees, Christmas decorations, and more generally the presence of copious amounts of tinsel and red suits trimmed with white fur. The sugar-coated imagery of Christmas comes under direct attack as a reminder that this time of year can, in fact, be a time where, for many people, feelings of exclusion, loneliness and rejection are exacerbated rather than mitigated, hence F Christmas.

Patricia Di Risio 

Photographer: Gregory Lorenzutti