Derrière on a G-string
Some Smith and Moore
Director/Choreographer: Alfred Taylor-Gaunt
King’s Head Theatre
12 May 2026
Star rating: 4
A delightfully original blend of dance, mime and physical theatre this show pulses with energy and fun.
In a nutshell it consists of a series of comedy sketches depicting everyday life performed by six talented performers to classical music from Vivaldi to Eric Coates. Thus we get a swimming pool scene to the Radetzky March, two hard-hatted men falling in love on a building site to the big pas-de-deux from The Nutcracker, a hilarious airport scene frantically hunting for a passport to The Flight of the Bumblebee and a lot more – for an enjoyable 80 minutes.
Of course it’s risqué. The word derrière isn’t just there for decoration so there’s a lot of cheeky (get it?) flirting with the audience and scanty flesh coloured thongs and tops to stand for nudity. These are dancers – four men and two women – so, of course, gleeful homo-eroticism permeates but doesn’t always dominate. There is, for example, a very funny escalating group sex scene choreographed to Grieg’s Morning Wood. The titular “g-string” is a clever play on words – although JS Bach is one composer who doesn’t get an outing here. Incidentally I had fun identifying and noting each piece of music as if I were taking part in Steve Race’s still missed radio show, My Music (1967-94), only to find afterwards that each was listed in the programme with full performance credits. Hurrah.
The ensemble work in this show is so strong that it’s almost invidious to pick anyone out. However, Sammy Moore leads the company and his work from pathos (being prepared to perform in the opening scene to Figaro’s first big number from The Barber of Seville) to ebullient “naughtiness” is richly varied and like everyone else in this cast he has a dancer’s rubber body. Ryan Upton – powerful movement and wonderful range of facial expressions – is a joy to watch. And I loved the response to the exaggerated swoops in Brahm’s Hungarian Dance no 5. And the bus stop scene (Henry Wood’s accelerating take on the Sailor’s Hornpipe) – and the puns in the titles of each scene. It’s a good idea to link scenes with variations on the most grandiose tune Elgar ever wrote and the cast has recurring tableau fun with Oh Fortuna from Carmina Burana. I could go on.
Derrière on a G String is one of the freshest and most entertaining fringe shows I’ve seen in a while. It’s well worth catching. But it might not be a good idea to take your staunchly “proper” great aunt Jemina or, if you’re prissy, your children.
