August 2, 2010
I'm a bit of a fan of things with 'cabaret' in the title, I love charity shops and I adored C4's 'Smack the Pony' comedy sketch series, so this play in the North Wall's 'Edinburgh or Bust' season looked like it had been pitched at my very eyeballs. Whoever thought up the idea of sticking on a few of the plays heading up north here in the 'shire deserves a Fringe First award of their own: not only can we experience a bit of festival fever without straying too far from our sofas, but the tickets are knock-down cheap at just a fiver (and if you nip over the road to Cibo for dinner afterwards with your tickets you get a discount). The companies get to show their baby to a receptive audience and work out where it might need tweaking; they also get to generate a bit of cash to support them for the gruelling Edinburgh run ahead. Also, the fabulous North Wall gets bums on seats. Everyone's a winner.
This is just the kind of cute, quirky comedy show that would be perfect for a bit of cockle-warming if your mind's a bit sore from some of the trickier stuff to be encountered up north. Like a soothing, Radio Two-scented balm you could smoothe it over your Festival-fatigued brain, letting the awful eighties clothes, surprisingly good dance routines, ill-fitting wigs (and accents) and excellent acting charm you into a fug of gentle retro amusedness. Admittedly, there are few belly laughs (nothing quite reaches the very high bar set by Smack the Pony), and I was expecting a bit more actual cabaret (there's no live music, for example), but this is still a pleasant way to spend an hour in the company of three talented character actors (oh, and a morose foreign DJ). It's a tough arena they're heading for, but - whilst they won't have the strongest product on the market - they will have one with a wide appeal (it would work equally well as a kids' show, as none of the content could feasibly be labelled 'offensive'). I'd be intrigued to know if the company has a fruitier adult version of this show up their sleeve for late-night slots at the festival, and I'd also be intrigued to know why they decided to learn neat dance numbers but no musical ones (when the massive popularity of outfits such as The Mighty Boosh, Flight of the Conchords and The Lonely Island [I'm on a Boat] would seem to suggest that there's a bigger market for musical spoofery than for dance jokes. But then, I'm a musician, not a dancer, so I would say that).
I wish this show all the best for its run - and if you're reading this from up north and need a bit of mind balm, go check it out. You may come away with a curious desire to own a glass wolf, but you'll sure feel a lot better.
This is just the kind of cute, quirky comedy show that would be perfect for a bit of cockle-warming if your mind's a bit sore from some of the trickier stuff to be encountered up north. Like a soothing, Radio Two-scented balm you could smoothe it over your Festival-fatigued brain, letting the awful eighties clothes, surprisingly good dance routines, ill-fitting wigs (and accents) and excellent acting charm you into a fug of gentle retro amusedness. Admittedly, there are few belly laughs (nothing quite reaches the very high bar set by Smack the Pony), and I was expecting a bit more actual cabaret (there's no live music, for example), but this is still a pleasant way to spend an hour in the company of three talented character actors (oh, and a morose foreign DJ). It's a tough arena they're heading for, but - whilst they won't have the strongest product on the market - they will have one with a wide appeal (it would work equally well as a kids' show, as none of the content could feasibly be labelled 'offensive'). I'd be intrigued to know if the company has a fruitier adult version of this show up their sleeve for late-night slots at the festival, and I'd also be intrigued to know why they decided to learn neat dance numbers but no musical ones (when the massive popularity of outfits such as The Mighty Boosh, Flight of the Conchords and The Lonely Island [I'm on a Boat] would seem to suggest that there's a bigger market for musical spoofery than for dance jokes. But then, I'm a musician, not a dancer, so I would say that).
I wish this show all the best for its run - and if you're reading this from up north and need a bit of mind balm, go check it out. You may come away with a curious desire to own a glass wolf, but you'll sure feel a lot better.