The Rapture

Moira Finucane is renowned for producing visually astonishing and confronting burlesque theatre and for radically pushing boundaries. Her work demands a more political perspective and her shows have created a cult-like following. In The Rapture, Finucane has maintained the risqué nature of this theatrical form as well as her unique style, and her devout fans are able to revel in her performance.

The show seamlessly transforms from one sequence to another in a manner which elicits a stream of consciousness and encourages a more visceral response to the material. Some of the work in this performance comes across as more strident than what audiences may normally expect, however, the imagery that she creates is always arresting and captivating. Finucane’s ideas are provocative and she is never apologetic for the forcefulness with which they are delivered.

Each sequence is characterised by a dramatic and exquisite use of costume, lighting and music. The lighting is often ethereal, the costumes are defined by dynamic shape, texture and fabric while the music often conveys a state of divinity. The highly stylised quality of the work produces the kind of hyperbole typically found in tribal or religious rituals. The Rapture is performed with this sense of the grandiose and, at times, even has an evangelical dimension, although it is unclear whether this is deliberately bordering on parody. This may make the show somewhat confounding, but it is nonetheless absorbing and enjoyable.

Patricia Di Risio

Photographer: Paul Dunne