Derrière on a G String is billed as “The cheeky new comedy dance sensation” and consists of twenty dance and physical theatre sketches lasting eighty-five minutes performed to pre-recorded ‘classical’ music by a very highly talented ensemble of six performers.
Director and choreographer Alfred Taylor-Gaunt says in a programme note that people tend to have a fixed idea of what dance is – they expect something twee, dated and dull, or so abstract that it feels inaccessible.
His aim, together with assistant director and ensemble member Sammy Moore, is and has always been to make a dance show that people would actually enjoy. Something entertaining, something clear, something their dads (and mine!) would happily sit through without checking their watches!
What is not in doubt is that they have truly succeeded in their aims with Derrière on a G String! It is a highly amusing, undemanding, feel-good show, which is undoubtedly “cheeky” as well as camp, but which is very entertaining.
Alice O’Brien (‘Slosh’ in the programme, though names are never referred to in the show) is perhaps the most skilled as a dancer, actor and comedienne. She uses her face superbly and subtly as well as being eminently watchable – she is so naughty! Ena Yamaguchi (Vinyl) demonstrates excellent physical theatre skills as well as being a ballerina and exhibits a true sense of fun and enjoyment on stage.
Cam Tweed (Drip), Ryan Upton (Grunt), Courtney Cyrus (Twitch) and Sammy Moore (Flop) exhibit great energy and enjoyment in everything they do, the amusing sketches including a lesson in how to put on a duvet cover, danced to Ponchielli’s Dance of the Hours, a football match set to Brahms fifth Hungarian Dance, a ‘vaping’ scene accompanied by ‘Aquarium’ from Saint-Saens Carnival of the Animals, Swan Lake as you have never seen it before and Flying Ducks performed to the Galop from Offenbach’s Orpheus on the Underworld. By the way, there is also some limited audience participation; for example, you may find yourself being given a cloth and told to mop the stage floor, or suddenly find that you have an almost naked man sitting on your lap…
Luke Bateman has cleverly put together the backing track ensuring that each sketch melds smoothly into the next, the attractive set has been designed by Emily Bestow and imaginative yet simple quick-change costumes, are by Reuben Speed.
Derrière on a G String has a surprising amount of variety within it – it is a fresh, lively show which simply bursts with energy and good humour – as well as being very tongue-in-cheek. I enjoyed it enormously, as did the rest of the ‘full house’ at Press Night. Highly recommended!
Review by John Groves
Derrière on a G String is a riotous new comedy that turns the world gloriously upside down.
Set to some of the most famous pieces ever written, this fast-paced show unleashes a wildly inventive sequence of visual sketches packed with physical comedy, outrageous characters, and moments of deliciously naughty mischief. Think the anarchic spirit of Laurel and Hardy, the surreal silliness of Mr Bean, and the sharp comic timing of Mitchell and Webb — all colliding in a gleefully ridiculous celebration of life’s most awkward, absurd, and unexpectedly intimate moments.
FLOP | Sammy Moore
GRUNT | Ryan Upton
VINYL | Ena Yamaguchi
DRIP | Cam Tweed
TWITCH | Courtney Cyrus
SLOSH | Alice O’Brien
Creator | Some Smith and Moore
Director/Choreographer | Alfred Taylor-Gaunt
Assistant Director | Sammy Moore
Assistant Choreographer | David Rhys
Musical Arranger | Luke Bateman
Lighting Design | Andrew Ellis
Sound Design | Findlay Claydon
Set Design | Emily Bestow
Costume Design | Reuben Speed
Derrière on a G String
King’s Head Theatre
6 May to 7 June 2026
