David Bowie is one of music’s greatest enigmas. Karlis Zaid’ s new show was created to try to peel back the layers of the singer’s stage persona and the man behind it. Loving The Alien was part tribute show and part panel discussion that endeavoured to answer the question of who the real Bowie was.
Zaid and co-star Aurora Kurth started off with a talk-show style set-up where they began a debate about Bowie. This was followed by some biographical information and discussion leading into the songs, which they performed solo or sometimes as a duet. The song selection for each stage of the story matched up and highlighted the blurry lines between real life and Bowie’s music. This approach was well-balanced between information and entertainment.
Zaid and Kurth bounced off each other, with easy banter between the two. There were a couple of times where it felt like they stumbled over their lines, but this was dealt with in a self-deprecating manner that proved endearing.
The music was undoubtedly the highlight of the production. Zaid and Kurth are accomplished singers who perform faithful recreations of Bowie classics, but with a bit of themselves in there too. Having a male and female vocalist also made for interesting interpretations of the source material. They were superbly accompanied by Andrew Patterson on piano and Aaron Syrjanenon on guitar.
Loving the Alien: does it find the real Bowie?
For those who don’t know much about Bowie, Loving the Alien made for a compelling narrative; for knowledgeable fans, the material may be too well-known and not explored in depth enough to be satisfactory. For a show that boldly attempted to find the real Bowie, we never quite got there. Kurth even poked fun at the fact that they couldn’t really give a satisfactory conclusion, despite Zaid’s attempts to tie everything together. While Bowie’s life is not the easiest to understand, it would have been better to get more of an answer to the question the show was built around.
Read: Theatre review: The 7 Stages of Grieving, Subiaco Arts Centre
Though a strong production on the whole, a little bit of polish and added depth to the talk show aspect with a stronger conclusion would take Loving The Alien to the next level.
Loving The Alien
The Show Room, Arts Centre Melbourne
Performers: Karlis Zaid, Aurora Kurth
Musicians: Andrew Patterson, Aaron Syrjanen
Loving The Alien was performed 3-6 July 2025.
