Brought to its Perth debut by Melbourne cabaret collective, Rassputin’s Wet Posse, A Perfectly Normal Show was a gentle, delicate tale of queer courtship not so subtly hidden under a gruff comedic exterior.

Based around the remembrances of Nonne and Nonno, two very heterosexual, very Eastern European grandparents – performers Mx Lucy Furr and Rassputin respectively – the show took the form of a large family dinner, with the audience members as assorted relatives.

From the duo’s first meeting, when for the first time in history the man was chosen over the bear, through a Sixties Summer of Love analogy, to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the arrival of colour television, all the beats to inform a decades-long relationship were convincingly provided.

An eclectic song selection to accompany the on-stage antics was welcomed enthusiastically. From ABBA, somehow already in the 1950s and the spaghetti western themes of Sergio Leone, through Zorba the Greek and Dua Lipa, the audience could not anticipate what would occur from one track to the next. Indeed, that surprise was very quickly part of the enjoyment.

The real world started to bleed into the art, as Nonne extolled the beauty of both Melbourne and Europe, the difficulties trans people face when crossing certain borders, and touched on the entire cratered husk of the current United States, especially for the queer community.

A Perfectly Normal Show was at times ridiculous, at others absurdist, and yet still ablaze with emotional intensity throughout. The adoration the two characters held for each other shone like a supernova, the importance of found family was firmly demonstrated, and the core of the work was a celebration of queer and – far more specifically – trans joy. And with everything happening in the world currently, we all need far more of both.