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Your Sunday Afternoon Zen: Jacqui Dark sings her ‘IVF Song’

Jacqueline Dark, who has taken a break from the opera world to play Mother Abbess in the current Australian production of The Sound of Music, has many layers.

Would one think an opera star turned musical theatre’s favourite nun would moonlight in a messy-dirty cabaret with partner in crime Kanen Breen? It doesn’t seem likely – but then, nothing about Dark is likely. Thank god.

During her cabaret with Breen, Strange  Bedfellows, Dark performed a song she had written herself – “The IVF Song” – that I recently included on my list of favourite stage moments of 2015. I wrote:

In the middle of Strange Bedfellows, the wonderfully crass, camp, baroque-contemporary battle of a cabaret by opera escapees Jacqueline Dark and Kanen Breen, came a beautiful surprise: a song, penned by Dark, that evoked her own motherhood story. It was profound; she was beautiful; in the next moment, we were covered anew in filthy jokes. It was the most daring part of the whole cabaret.

Now, experience the song yourself. It starts out bawdy, but don’t be fooled. It takes a turn. (You might need tissues).

Happy Sunday!

The IVF Song from Ariaflix on Vimeo.

Cassie Tongue

Cassie is a theatre critic and arts writer in Sydney, and was the deputy editor of AussieTheatre. She has written for The Guardian, Time Out Sydney, Daily Review, and BroadwayWorld Australia. She is a voter for the Sydney Theatre Awards.

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