Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea is a cabaret treat from UK company 1927.  Part homage, part satire and all passion, 1927 have mixed their favourite genres to create something irresistible.

Imagine a silent film, complete with piano player, and the figures on the screen come to life. It is utterly delightful - as delightful as Little Julie playing homeless crack whore with a toy syringe.

The evening’s ten terrible tales were written and directed by Suzanne Andrade. Her work is marvellously macabre, but she’s just so terribly nice. (Imagine the love child of The Tiger Lillies’s Martyn Jacques and Emma Thompson.) Her descriptions of “milk moon tit driplets” and “marshmallow excrement” are as wonderful as they are wrong. Her characters are all familiar, yet so original. There are plenty of surprises, and the twins in search of a playmate simply have to be seen.

Esme Appleton and pianist Lillian Henley join Andrade on the stage. Her stories combine with the animation and design of Paul Barrit. The interaction between the performers and Barrit’s screen is stunning.  I couldn’t imagine one without the other.

This show has understandably won heaps of awards and is happily trotting around the globe. I’m not sure how it fits with the Malthouse’s vision of presenting contemporary Australian theatre, but let’s just solve that by making the 1927 company honorary Aussies.