Review: Red Lantern Haus: Halloween Special

If you wanted to see women taking their clothes off on a Saturday night, this was the show for you!

Last Saturday saw hoards of pole and burlesque enthusiasts descend onto Gang Gang Café in Downer for Red Lantern Haus’ Halloween special. The cafe was aglow for the performances, with the Red Lantern Haus sign lighting up the stage and long glow-stick-looking lanterns hanging from the ceiling, all combining to create a very nice atmosphere. A pole was set up at stage left, which most of the performers used at some point. All eyes were on the stage, eager to see each performer’s unique outfit and style.

Teeni Banhmi produced and hosted, dressed as a red devil. Teeni is deeply involved in the Canberra performance community as a performer, producer, drag beauty queen, and award-winning pole dancer. They are an instructor at Flow and Co Studio, where many of the night’s performers trained. Many of the audience also seemed to be connected with the pole and fitness studio, meaning that there was a very strong sense of community in the room. The support for the performers was palpable with many people loudly celebrating the pole and the dancers.

Ree Sting began the evening with a performance that started with ‘Mr Sandman’ which turned into ‘The Sandman,’ and then ‘Miss’ by Metallica which was performed upside-down, twirling on the pole. Importantly, before she started, host Teeni made it very clear that if you ended up with part of a performer’s outfit, you needed to return it, but before you do, you should have a long, deep sniff. The room giggled.

Each audience member no doubt had their own favourites, but personally, my favourite was Xenon Revolution with their puppet Radon who was dressed as Dracula. This was a real twist considering most of the other numbers involved stripping, pole, and no puppets. What I loved about it was Xenon’s singing – they performed ‘Vampire’ by Olivia Rodrigo. Their voice was amazing and many of us in the audience joined in, which was a lot of fun.

Another standout was Eros, who performed as Shego, who millennials will recall was a villain from Kim Possible. Eros shed their outfit and then covered themselves in green goop, smooshing it everywhere, including their mouth.

Speaking of smooshing things into one’s mouth, choosing to put on a burlesque show at dinnertime (7:30pm start) at Gang Gang, a venue that actually serves dinner, was inspired. Burlesque with a side of pizza and fried cauliflower bites? The night really was about bodily delights.

The performances ended really strongly with a naughty nun who revealed metal nipple shields and a groin plate. She pulled out of her suitcase of tricks not a Bible, and not even a sex toy, but an angle grinder, and let the sparks fly to the eruption of the audience.

Despite having already praised the venue due to the food options, the performances were somewhat let down by the layout of the café. Patrons at the middle and back found it quite hard to see the floorwork that many of the performers favoured, with some choosing to stand rather than sit. Luckily a lot of the performances also featured the pole which meant they were elevated and therefore more visible.

 So if after reading this article you feel like you’ve missed out, the good news is that there is plenty more happening in November. First off, at Blue Eyes in Garema Pl in the city on November 7 Red Lantern Haus is hosting another show which promises more old-Hollywood glamour than this show. And if you can’t wait that long, this Saturday 31 October is Fair Day in Glebe Park, where vibes will be more picnic, but still super queer and hot, with a few of the Red Lantern Haus selected performers performing.