Don’t have time to read the full review? Click here for a quick summary of the who, what, where and wine of this production.
It’s 1987 in Vale Park, just outside Adelaide, and Michael Griffiths is trying to navigate his sexuality at the same time as starting high school as a theatre-loving, sports-avoiding kid and seeing Grim Reaper ads on TV every night at the height of the AIDS epidemic.
In these times, the coolly melancholic songs of electronic duo Pet Shop Boys – aka Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe – were his solace and his escape. Griffiths reflects through their music on his journey of growing up and coming out, finding joy in the midst of some terrible times. More than 20 years later, and the moments of joy far outweigh those of woe. Directed by Dean Bryant and featuring Julian Ferraretto on violin and Dylan Paul on double bass, this story is about growing older, maturing and becoming more self-assured.
As a person on the younger end of millennial, the idea of someone doing a whole cabaret to their most listened-to songs of their teenage years is a bit worrisome. Fortunately, Griffiths’ equivalent isn’t a So Fresh album of autotuned club bangers. The Pet Shop Boy classics performed cover some of the most significant moments of Griffiths adolescence and young adulthood with honesty and care. Suburbia (on wishing he could escape his difficult high school years in regional SA), You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You’re Drunk (the time his relationship got more monotonous than monogamous), and the show’s eponymous It’s a Sin (rejecting the shame gay men felt during the AIDs crisis and embracing his identity) are a couple of favourites.
The story is so true to his experiences, and so motivated by his happiness at how his life panned out, that it seeps out of every part of the performance. While Griffiths is a consummate showman with a cabaret that’s 98% scripted, polished and sharp, he can’t help having a dorky lil groove when he talks about falling in love or surviving rough patches with his partner of more than 30 years.
In this tongue-in-cheek, witty and heartfelt ode to time gone by, Griffiths celebrates the good and the bad of the cabaret of life.
Find more information about It’s a Sin: Songs of Love and Shame here.
Shiraz | Wine Pairing
Shiraz is my go-to cabaret wine. Indulgent, sassy and big-bodied, it has the pizazz needed to stand up to the big personality on-stage.
My Pick: Chris Ringland Wines 2019 CR Barossa Shiraz, Barossa Valley, SA
With notes of lush, ripe red berries and dark chocolate, this full-bodied red contains flavours of some of the best sins there are.
It’s a Sin: Songs of Love and Shame, Sydney Theatre Company & Sydney Festival | Tasting Notes
| Aussie Season | 12 Jan 2024, Sydney Theatre Company Wharf 1 Theatre |
| Ticket $ | $39-79 |
| Writer | Michael Griffiths |
| Director | Dean Bryant |
| Theatre Type & Genre | Cabaret, biopic |
| See it if you like | Fun Home |
| Wine Pairing | Shiraz |
| Criteria for Wine Pairing | Full-bodied, notes of chocolate |
Toasting Aussie Theatre 