Following the huge success of their Dionysian dining experience Divine Proportions, Shotgun Carousel return to The Vaults with their new masquerade ball, Red Palace. A Gothic cabaret guided by an irresistible tale, this promenade immersive experience showcases cabaret, circus, dance and genre-defying performance.
Gastro-storyteller and Masterchef semi-finalist Annie McKenzie will provide an exclusive menu for booked diners, subject to limited availability.
Join The Prince and his fairy tale guests in the living labyrinth of the Red Palace and enjoy a decadent evening of feast and fantasy. Roam the halls of the Gothic masked ball to meet the court, witness the beautiful, the brilliant, the wanton, the bizarre. Nothing and no one is what they seem; dance, dine and discover the mystery at the heart of this ball.
Red Palace is inspired by the allure of the carnivals of Venice as well as the vicious narratives of the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen, topped up with a dash of Gothic macabre inspired by the tales of Edgar Allan Poe. The stories that thread through the production look behind the mask to explore power, duplicity, and the complexity of identity.
Red Palace sheds the binds of gender and sexual conformity to release a world of pleasure and freedom. These are not the characters from the fairy tales we think we know – Snow White and Red Riding Hood meet assassins, alchemists and prophetesses. As music hall starlets and black market bootleggers entertain, contortionists twist and ballerinas fly through the air to the sound of a ghostly orchestra.
Shotgun Carousel invite their audience to be escorted by a glorious array of audacious characters on a journey of transformation full of glamour, danger, and elegance to find their own fairy tale ending.
Director Celine Lowenthal comments, “Red Palace is a dream come true for Shotgun and myself. Having made our madcap Divine Proportions last year to great success, we are thrilled to have the mighty support of The Vaults and to be given the freedom to create such a multidimensional production, in The Vaults’ atmospheric caverns, tunnels and underground halls. We are already plotting and planning how to make Red Palace both a really special, refined piece of theatre, and a joyfully escapist night out.”
Red Palace is at The Vaults 24th September 2019 to 12th January 2020.
