Somebody Once Told Us That Burlesque 'Shrek' Parody 'Shreklesque' Is Touring Down Under This Year

What do The Simpsons, Star Wars and Shrek have in common? They've all graced the big screen, they clearly share a love for the letter S and they're each huge hits. Oh, and they've all inspired their own firmly adults-only stage parodies, as pop-culture favourites starting with the 19th letter of the alphabet happen to do in Australia, it seems.

Somebody once told us that Shreklesque is the burlesque and drag take pop culture's favourite green ogre that you didn't know you needed — and we're telling you that now. (And no, nobody informed you two decades ago that the animated hit would turn out like this, because no one could've predicted it.)

On the bill at the aptly named show: the kind of irreverent and raunchy take on all things Shrek that The Bad Collective will be serving up with its upcoming The Stripsons, too — and, while Shreklesque has been around for a couple of years now, earning awards and acclaim in the process, the Aussie production is hitting the road for a national and New Zealand tour in 2022. That means that it's time to make a date with a production that might share a general storyline and a fondness for the colour green with the much less satirical — and actually family-friendly — Broadway hit Shrek the Musical, which came our way a year or so back, but couldn't be more different in a heap of ways.

If you're wondering who had the brainwave to turn Shrek into a burlesque show, that'd be Trigger Happy as Shreklesque's creator and director. For this tour, the show's cast includes Bebe Gunn, Rainbow, Tugboat Tiffy, Baron Von Envy, Henny Spaghetti, Barbie Banks, Selin Tian, Rosaline DeRussi, Indea Sekula and De La Vinx.

Wearing green is obviously recommended — although you'll be seeing plenty of it on-stage anyway. And if this is exactly your sense of humour when it comes to beloved pop-culture commodities, all that glitters is gold, naturally.

SHREKLESQUE AUSTRALIAN TOUR 2022 DATES:

• February 18–20: The Flamingo at Gluttony, Adelaide
• June 3–4: Enmore Theatre, Sydney
• June 11: The Princess Theatre, Launceston
• June 15–18: The Tivoli, Brisbane
• June 24: The Astor, Perth
• June 29–July 2: Athenaeum Theatre, Melbourne
• July 8–9: The Opera House, Wellington
• July 16: Entertainment Centre, Darwin

Shreklesque tours Australia and New Zealand throughout 2022, starting in Adelaide in February, then picking back up again in June and July. Head to the show's website for further details and tickets.

Images: SomeFX.