The Empire Strips Back – London

Burlesque shines in a galaxy-class spectacle!

Woweee, this is quite a show. The Empire Strips Back lands in London as part of its international tour, and what a riot it is. The Force is strong with this one.

Let’s begin with the burlesque elements of the performance. It’s incredibly refreshing to see that all of the performers appear to be professionally trained dancers or gymnasts. There are effortless splits, needles, and tumbles throughout, all of which add a real sense of class to the production. This isn’t like other burlesque shows where flashy costumes are let down by mediocre performances. Here, the choreography is sharp, often set to modern tracks with cheeky puns that play on the Star Wars or character theme. While there’s no overarching narrative, a compère, dressed as Lando links the acts. He’s mostly entertaining, though on more than one occasion he asked the audience to make the sound of a Wookiee. I appreciate he’s covering for big set changes behind the curtain, but at times it felt like he was slowing things down, recycling jokes and doing endless rounds of “Happy Birthdays.” I was close to turning to the Dark Side.

Now, the costumes and set pieces are what elevate this show far beyond the competition. The sheer joy in the room when the Tauntaun came out for the first number was something special. This costume/puppet was phenomenal and set the tone right from the get-go. (Spoiler: the Tauntaun doesn’t strip, but its guts do get cut out) Luke’s Landspeeder even features in a tongue-in-cheek car wash–style routine.

There’s so much to love here. Any Star Wars fan should book tickets faster than the Millennium Falcon in hyperdrive. One highlight was C-3PO spinning slowly on a turntable while Jawas stripped away their plating, an inventive and hilarious touch. The in-jokes will delight fans, but even those unfamiliar with Star Wars will still find plenty to enjoy, though they might miss some of the deeper parodies. My one small gripe was with the C-3PO costume: the helmet didn’t quite match the body colour, which is a shame, as every other element of the production is otherwise faultless. It was the only bit that didn’t feel fully operational.

When we meet Han, one of the few male performers, he delivers a lively solo to Michael Jackson hits. However, during the famous Smooth Criminal lean, he performed it towards the audience; it would have looked much more impressive done sideways.

In the second act, Chewie and Han return for a disco classics medley, which features the only place you can see a breakdancing Wookiee, what’s not to love? Of course, there’s also a life-sized Jabba the Hutt with a matching slave-girl Leia.

Darth Vader and the Stormtroopers close things out with an iconic number full of sharp choreography. There are more large ensemble pieces in the second half, and while it’s a pity they keep their helmets on, I suppose, as The Mandalorian says “This is the way.”