The cult cabaret trio, The Tiger Lillies performed their latest stage piece, LULU – A MURDER BALLAD at the Royal Opera House this month. With their trademark demon / clown face paint; composer, singer and accordionist Martyn Jacques, bass player Adrian Stout and percussionist Jonas Gollard presented the ‘brilliantly twisted’ song cycle distillation of Frank Wedekind’s dangerous, unpredictable and tragic heroine, Lulu played by Laura Caldow. Described as part grand guignol, part seedy vaudeville and part grunge cabaret the trio are part of a centuries-long tradition of art that challenges social and cultural conventions.

In his four-star review for The Stage, Neil Norman wrote, “Martyn Jacques’ trio are jaunty, post-punk night crawlers, renegade musicians who cleave to the after-dark melodrama of sex,death and the macabre”.

I left this sketch of Martyn and Laura at the ROH last week and they kindly signed and returned it for me.