February 27, 2008
aka... Dolorze, Where's the Stairs?????? and an alarming array of other names...
This spectacle was either terribly brilliant or brilliantly terrible, or possibly bitingly territorial, tiringly bearable or blaringly titilating. But it's hard to say which.
Ostensibly it's a history of sitcom, with examples and voiceover. I found the first ten minutes of overacting somewhat excrutiating, but as time wore on I was drawn in by the manic wordplay, and sheer gauntlet-laying audacity of the performers, who did everything with confidence and vigour. Joe Schutz has the widest range of fixed grins I've ever seen while Ken Cheng cheerfully laid waste to various accents and the only person in the audience bold enough to ask a question.
Manic wordplay, eccentric costuming and a set designed specifically in response to the Burton Taylor's storage problems built up the comic effect through sheer relentlessness. And with a strong air of improvisation about it, there's probably not much point telling you my favourite bits as there's no guarantee they'll reappear in any other performances. But just as you thought the play must surely have veered off course the cast conjured up a cue, the lighting and music changed, and everything was drawn back together. Mostly. And every so often your senses were assaulted all over again with the sheer ridiculousness of it all.
Jessica Courtney and Lee, Dave seemed rather under-used for the first three quarters of the performance, until the whole mood of the piece changed into a medley of songs, lampooning all the popular genres. The musical talents of all the cast were obvious and the performance went up a notch or two. Dolores shed his wig and gained a keyboard which he proceeded to play at a strange angle, seemingly effortlessly. The rhymes and puns remained as silly as ever. Obviously Ms Chutz is a keen lyricist...
I felt that the movements could have done with some refining, as the sometimes aimless milling did not match up to the comic timing and expressions. The whole thing is very like watching some friends caper about during a drunken party, which is both a strength and a weakness - fortunately they are talented friends who are enjoying themselves, and you can't guess quite what they'll do next, but I would advise prospective audience members to have a coupld of stiff drinks first in order to join in fully with the spirit of the piece.
This spectacle was either terribly brilliant or brilliantly terrible, or possibly bitingly territorial, tiringly bearable or blaringly titilating. But it's hard to say which.
Ostensibly it's a history of sitcom, with examples and voiceover. I found the first ten minutes of overacting somewhat excrutiating, but as time wore on I was drawn in by the manic wordplay, and sheer gauntlet-laying audacity of the performers, who did everything with confidence and vigour. Joe Schutz has the widest range of fixed grins I've ever seen while Ken Cheng cheerfully laid waste to various accents and the only person in the audience bold enough to ask a question.
Manic wordplay, eccentric costuming and a set designed specifically in response to the Burton Taylor's storage problems built up the comic effect through sheer relentlessness. And with a strong air of improvisation about it, there's probably not much point telling you my favourite bits as there's no guarantee they'll reappear in any other performances. But just as you thought the play must surely have veered off course the cast conjured up a cue, the lighting and music changed, and everything was drawn back together. Mostly. And every so often your senses were assaulted all over again with the sheer ridiculousness of it all.
Jessica Courtney and Lee, Dave seemed rather under-used for the first three quarters of the performance, until the whole mood of the piece changed into a medley of songs, lampooning all the popular genres. The musical talents of all the cast were obvious and the performance went up a notch or two. Dolores shed his wig and gained a keyboard which he proceeded to play at a strange angle, seemingly effortlessly. The rhymes and puns remained as silly as ever. Obviously Ms Chutz is a keen lyricist...
I felt that the movements could have done with some refining, as the sometimes aimless milling did not match up to the comic timing and expressions. The whole thing is very like watching some friends caper about during a drunken party, which is both a strength and a weakness - fortunately they are talented friends who are enjoying themselves, and you can't guess quite what they'll do next, but I would advise prospective audience members to have a coupld of stiff drinks first in order to join in fully with the spirit of the piece.