Latest news with #TheEmpireStripsBack
Times
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
It's a burlesque Star Wars — with stripping robots
It's a summer of burlesque in London. The scene queen Dita Von Teese returns in June with Diamonds and Dust. Burlesque the Musical, set to the songs of Christina Aguilera and Sia, opens in July. But first up is The Empire Strips Back, a cheerfully odd but bizarrely boring collision of burlesque dancing and Star Wars fandom, which has played in more than 40 cities around the world since Russall S Beattie created it for a Sydney nightclub in 2011. 'They can't put tits on Darth Vader, can they?' a woman behind me wondered halfway through. Well, our amiably blokey host, Pete Dobbing, asks us not to give spoilers — when not asking for evidence in the crowd of Star Wars tattoos,
The Guardian
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
The Empire Strips Back review – Chewie gets jiggy in galactic burlesque parody
Might there be an overlap between sci-fi fans – I speak as one myself – and audiences who are up for watching women remove their clothes? The huge success of 'burlesque parody' The Empire Strips Back suggests that, yes, there just might be. Created in Australia and since performed globally, the show recasts scenes and characters from a galaxy far, far away as sexy strip-and-dance numbers, stylishly lit and slickly performed to a banging pop and rock score. If you like the sound of Boba Fett bumping and grinding to Guns N' Roses, or Han Solo and Chewbacca getting jiggy to the Backstreet Boys – well, these are the droids you're looking for. What makes the show stand out is the fidelity of its design, its unofficial status notwithstanding; and its sense of humour. The scenes you'll remember are the funny ones – Jabba the Hutt rapping, anyone? – or at least, those that put a cheeky spin on the original material. See a scantily clad female Luke Skywalker seeking warmth in the belly of her disemboweled tauntaun, or C-3P0 being undressed, rather than disassembled, by two busybody Jawas. There's a once-seen, never-forgotten number (you may sense a great disturbance in the Force) featuring a naked Emperor Palpatine and a mirrorball shaped like the Death Star. The set pieces are freestanding, and between them, MC Pete Anderson jollies things along fan convention-style, soliciting the audience's R2-D2 impressions and best Star Wars tattoos. Anderson too clarifies the distinction between striptease and burlesque, the latter of which (he claims) is empowering, not creepy. It's hard not to notice that it's mainly women being empowered in The Empire Strips Back, whose male cast members alone end the show fully clothed. But if it's not striking a Rebel Alliance-like blow for freedom, The Empire Strips Back is at least striking one for pretty good fun. At Riverside Studios, London, until 17 August
