It’s the summer of seventeen droll – A Very Kransky Christmas. The spinster sisters of Esk, Mourne, Eve and Dawn Kransky, have created their own Kris Kringle that incorporates carols, covers and conversation about ghosts of Christmas past.
The show begins with a quaint slide show of escapades around Esk and further afield, tracking their escape from Esk , the escalation of their touring, and their return to the old home town. Christmas for the Kransky Sisters has a back story of colon recovered gold, (the proof is in the pooding (sic!) ), mordant mirth and frank incest (as half-sister Dawn is revealed as the December delivered spawn of their Mother and Dad’s brother).
These minstrels of the maudlin hit the right keys and never a bum note to illustrate their idiosyncratic yuletide tradition. Their idea of a calming Lullaby is a saw accompanied rendition of Simon and Garfunkel’s Sounds of Silence that segues into Michael Jackson’s Thriller. Santa Claus is Coming to Town gets a sinister makeover in a rendition conjuring a creep Claus, a voyeur, perv and serial stocking stuffer.
And you may never be able to listen to Abba or The Carpenters in quite the same way again.
The Kransky Sisters with their Morticia coiffure, long black skirts and dead pan delivery are like long lost Antipodean relatives of Charles Addams’ family, in essence, Addams-Esk. The mournfully demeanoured and aptly named Mourne, the eldest sister, leads the trio with guitar , primarily, with accompaniment by Eve on saw, and Dawn on tuba. The narrative is heavily skewed with an eschatological bent, fitting for a bent band from Esk.
There is an audience participation quotient to the evening’s proceedings targeting males to become honorary Kranksys, with the fervent and fevered hope of the siblings that the participants might become Esk cargo. A coy lasciviousness coupled with unbridled libido by Mourne and Eve momentarily dissipates the delicious display of deadpan that permeates the performance.
Then Dawn breaks.
As far as Queensland quirk cabaret goes, you couldn’t Esk for more than A Very Kransky Christmas.
The Kransky Sisters in association with A-LIST Entertainment, QPAC and the Seymour Centre present
A VERY KRANSKY CHRISTMAS
The Kransky Sisters
Venue: Seymour Centre | York Theatre, Cnr City Rd and Cleveland St, Chippendale NSW
Dates: 9 – 10 December 2017
Tickets: $49.50 – $44.50
Bookings: 02 9351 7940 | boxoffice.seymourcentre.com
