Stage: Killer punchlines and guitar riffs

Caveman in a Spaceship
Dave Hill
Soho Theatre • 15-18.May.24 ★★★★

American comic and musician Dave Hill has built a following with his appearances on a range of TV shows and in various bands, one of which supported Tenacious D on a recent tour. Now he is taking this solo piece on the road. Hill's middle-aged personal and rapid-fire performance are almost literally breathtaking, barely allowing the audience to pause between the constant barrage of hilarious punchlines, throwaway gags and musical riffs. His deferential delivery is hugely engaging, as he bares his soul to the audience while also striking several painfully cool poses.

This performance begins with a blast of chaotic energy, as he charges the stage on a BMX bike in a jumpsuit accompanied by a strobe light, fireworks and foam machine, twirling nunchucks and playing fearsome chords on his guitar while singing the title song, which speaks about keeping one foot in the past and the other in the future. "I nailed it," he sighs breathlessly at the end, and launches straight into a stream of consciousness that includes playing audience requests, running through an extended comedy sketch about Poundland and offering specific pick-up lines for Londoners to use. All of this is delivered with a surreal grin, thanking the audience for every laugh.

At one point he's joined by a couple of backup musicians who ably keep up with him even though he continually asks them to hold back. Throughout, Hill creates a surprisingly smooth vibe that's both groovy and very silly. Standout moments include a wildly paraphrased retelling of the gospel story of the loaves and fishes, which climaxes in a song about getting into a fight with his girlfriend's sister's annoying boyfriend. Every moment of this feels improvised, thanks to Hill's flailing, slightly out-of-control persona, but it's clearly very carefully put together, from the nutty flourishes to the expert guitar playing that punctuates everything.

When this brisk hour is up, the audience simply doesn't want it to end. Like all the best Fringe shows, this one leaves us longing for more. Judging by the audience's reaction, it's obvious that Hill has well and truly conquered London, and now we want to see whatever he does next. The question is whether we'll be able to keep up with him.

For more, DAVE HILL >

16.May.24

Critical Week: Baby you're a firework

While most London critics decamp to the South of France for 10 days, I prefer to avoid the chaos of the Cannes Film Festival if I can, as screening rooms get a bit quieter here. But it's not easy to read about all the intriguing films screening over there. While I have a bit more free time, there are still movies to watch! This week's films included the warm and properly inspiring biopic Young Woman and the Sea, starring Daisy Ridley as groundbreaking swimmer Trudy Ederle. This week's big release is IF, a child-friendly movie from actor-filmmaker John Krasinski that's remarkably sweet, warm and funny. And next week's kids' movie is The Garfield Movie, a frenetic animated romp that will keep very, very young children happy.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Tiger Stripes • IF
ALL REVIEWS >

A bit more high-brow is the fact-based action romcom Hit Man, starring the terrific Glen Powell as a teacher pretending to be an assassin to help a police sting operation. It's a great story, very well-told by Powell and director-cowriter Richard Linklater. Elizabeth Hurley stars in the sudsy erotic thriller Strictly Confidential, which is so camp that it's hilarious. JK Simmons goes all-in to play a ruthless killer menacing a nice family in the harrowing and rather harsh thriller You Can't Run Forever. From Pakistan, In Flames is an inventive dramatic horror film about women confronting the patriarchy. And I also caught up with Guy Ritchie's new film The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, a snappy WWII adventure based on a true story. A terrific cast led by Henry Cavill, Eiza Gonzalez, Alan Ritchson and Henry Golding keeps it funny and sometimes thrilling. There was also a live performance by musical stand-up comic Dave Hill with his riotously hilarious Caveman in a Spaceship at the Soho Theatre.

This coming week I'll be watching Anya Taylor-Joy in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Greg Kinnear in both The Present and Sight, the Canadian drama Solo and the animated adventure Deep Sea. Plus on stage I have Pieces of Me at Camden People's Theatre.

Stage: Queens of the night

The Opera Locos
created and directed by Yllana
with María Rey-Joly, Mayca Teba, Jesús Álvarez, Enrique Sánchez-Ramos, Michaël Koné
music Marc Álvarez, Manuel Coves
choreography Carlos Chamorro
sets Tatiana De Sarabia, David Ottone, Yeray González
lighting Enrique Toro • costumes Tatiana de Sarabia
Peacock Theatre, London • 8-11.May.24 ★★★★

A spicy blend of music, clowning, melodrama, mime and slapstick, this show centres around a series of proper operatic performances, delivering a greatest hits of popular pieces that pretty much anyone will recognise (such as O Sole Mio or Nessun Dorma), plus several lesser-known numbers and a few snippets of pop songs. There might be too much opera here for mainstream audiences, and it might be a bit broad for purists, but everyone will have a great time with these talented singer-comics.

The five performers from the Spanish theatre troupe Yllana play out three interwoven romances as they move from one sketch to the next, vocalising their dialog without using words and performing arias at full belt. The introductory piece highlights each of their colourful personalities before dissolving into a hilarious competition between Jesus Alvarez and Michael Kone, who ultimately dissolves into a full rock-god style performance of Mika's Grace Kelly. There are no more pop intrusions until the big finale, unless you count Alvarez's darkly amusing version of My Way. Instead, scenes feature seriously powerful renditions of Mozart, Verdi, Puccini, Bizet and more as the performers playfully enact their running plot threads.

The central plot is a straightforward backstage love story between a tenor (Alvarez), who feels beyond his heyday and is having suicidal thoughts, and an ardent fan who becomes a rising star soprano (Rey-Joly). Meanwhile, the baritone (Sanchez-Ramos) is trying to get the counter-tenor (Kone) to take the music more seriously, and it takes awhile for their flirtation to blossom into something sweet. Finally, the mezzo-soprano (Teba) cheekily courts a partner in the audience. All of this takes place vaudeville-style on a fairly simple steampunk stage augmented by rich-hued lighting and fantastically camp costumes and hair.

Yes, there's quite a bit of audience participation, from stand-up style comedy bits to Sanchez-Ramos' operatic masterclass, in which he gets puts various attendees on the spot. There are also a couple of enthusiastic sing-alongs as well. All of this is a lot of fun, with a continual stream of witty gags to keep us chuckling. And the songs are performed with big emotions, so they're hugely involving. But the troupe misses a trick by leaving nuance and surprise from the storylines, and they only rarely play around with the intriguing connections between musical genres. 

As a result, the medley of pop hits at the end feels triumphant, a reminder of what a serious singer can do with any song.Scattering more of this clever juxtaposition throughout the show would have deepened the experience, but there's plenty of passion among these adept performers, and their camaraderie is infectious. So even if, at just over 90 minutes, the show feels somewhat slight, it's a lot of fun. And the sparky cast gets us on our feet cheering at the end.

For information, SADLER'S WELLS >

photos by Lighuen De Santos • 8.May.24

Critical Week: Fun in the sun

The sunshine finally emerged in London this week, which won't bode well for this week's box office as everyone takes advantage of the weather. It's also not great for film critics who spend more time than most in darkened basement screening rooms. At least one of the films this week was bright and summery: Two Tickets to Greece is a French road trip movie about two old friends island hopping in the Cyclades. It's watchable because of stars Laure Calamy and Olivia Cote (above), plus the always incandescent Kristin Scott Thomas. There was also this week's blockbuster Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, which has markedly upped the impressive digital effects and performance-capture work, but feels more formulaic than the previous trilogy.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
La Chimera • Aisha
ALL REVIEWS >

Less flashy was the British drama The Almond and the Seahorse, which features Rebel Wilson in a rare serious role in a story about the repercussions of brain injury. The Image of You is a feverishly trashy thriller with Sacha Pieterse and Parker Young, a proper guilty pleasure. Lazareth is a gripping but somewhat overserious post-apocalyptic thriller with Ashley Judd. Hazard is a raucous action comedy from Poland, an enjoyably messy guilty pleasure with an emotional core, And Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In is a fiercely impressive action thriller from Hong Kong with a vivid narrative and fabulous characters. I also caught rather bonkers and thoroughly crowd-pleasing The Opera Locos at the Peacock theatre.

This coming week I'll be watching Ryan Reynolds in IF, Chris Pratt in The Garfield Movie, Daisy Ridley in Young Woman and the Sea, Lena Dunham in Treasure, Elizabeth Hurley in Strictly Confidential and the horror thriller In Flames. I'mm also watch Dave Hill's stand-up show Caveman in a Spaceship.

Stage: Who loses and who wins; who's in, who's out

King Lear
presented by Tang Shu-wing Theatre Studio
with Cecilia Yip, Lindzay Chan, Amanda Leung, Cassandra Tang, Peggy Chow, Ting-Kwan Lau, Ki-yan Ko, Corina Druc, Costinela Ungureanu
director Shu-wing Tang
sets and costumes Hon-wai Yuen • music Billy Ng
sound Anthony Yeung • lighting Tsz-yan Yeung
Riverside Studios, Hammersmith • 2-12.May.24 ★★★★

Strikingly visual and unnervingly visceral, this all-female performance piece reinterprets Shakespeare's masterpiece using movement, light, sound and fiercely expressive acting, but no words at all. It requires some knowledge of the play, although even that won't make everything clear. Instead, this is an impressionist piece that mixes comedy and drama with echoes of chilling horror, like a Lynchian fever dream about the corrupting effect of power in both families and politics.

Performances are remarkably controlled, as the actors wear emotions on their faces like expressive masks while moving in deliberate, choreographed interaction. In the demanding role as Lear, Cecilia Yip uses her full physicality to reveal compassion and yearning, as well as madness and fury. A monarch trying to find an heir to the kingdom, Lear's feelings move like a storm across the stage, pushing and pulling other characters while also having an impact on the sound and lighting around them. The sneering false love from eldest daughters Goneril and Regan (Lau and Chow) and their husbands (Ko and Ungureanu) is heartbreaking, as is the much more darkly intense connection with the younger Cordelia (Tang). Even those loyal to Lear, like Gloucester (Chan) and Kent (Leung), are unusually complex.

Each role requires an intensity that locks us in our seats, with a flurry of forceful glances, vicious attacks and desperately warm hugs. As Lear spirals around, trying to figure out who to trust, the situation itself pulls us in, and it doesn't really matter that we're not quite sure who's who. The staging is continually eye-catching, with an inventive use of costumes, sound, light and props that bring each moment to vivid life. This includes some startlingly violent sequences, with red laser pointers creating a scary counterpoint to the audible gunfire and swinging samurai sword. But the shadows visible in these characters' souls are what's most harrowing.

While Shakespeare's play can easily run to four hours, this 90-minute adaptation is remarkable for the way it conveys the underlying story using moods and intentionality. Facial expressions, gestures and movement create powerful feelings, while the audio and visual effects add atmosphere. So even if it's difficult to make clear sense of what we're seeing on-stage, or to decipher the symbolism that is cleverly woven into the simple but often dazzling sets and costumes, this is an exhilarating piece of physical theatre, performed by an astonishingly focussed cast.

For details, RIVERSIDE STUDIOS >

photos by Tik Hang Cedric Yip • 3.May.24

Critical Week: Head over heels

The weather warmed up considerably in London during the week, but has reverted back to near-wintry just in time for the long weekend, which perhaps will drive up cinema attendance. There was a big romcom this week, with Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine in The Idea of You, an unusually well-written movie that's smart and very sexy. But we're now officially in blockbuster season, with a major release each week for the next few months. This week's big movie was The Fall Guy, a meta-action comedy starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt. It's hugely entertaining, even if it's not quite as funny as it should be.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Love Lies Bleeding • The Idea of You
The Lost Boys • Evil Does Not Exist
Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry
Blue Giant • Jeanne du Barry • Drifter
ALL REVIEWS >

I also caught this week's big online release Unfrosted, Jerry Seinfeld's outrageously silly retelling of the birth of the Pop Tart, which is riotously packed with enjoyable cameos. Josh O'Connor stars in the offbeat Italian drama La Chimera, which is magical in the way it plays with the past and present. Lea Seydoux and George MacKay are terrific in The Beast, a freak-out with several fiendishly clever futuristic twists. There was also the photogenic German romp Lassie: A New Adventure, which is enjoyably predictable. From Argentina, the tango-infused Adios Buenos Aires tells an involving story about personal connections. And from England, the observant, charming doc Much Ado About Dying traces the final four years in the life of an eccentric actor.

I've got several films to watch over the coming week, including an Imax screening of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Rebel Wilson in The Almond and the Seahorse, Ashley Judd in Lazareth, Mira Sorvino in The Image of You, the Hong Kong action thriller Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In, the action-comedy Hazard and the Guatemalan drama Our Mothers.

Dance: Do you wanna funk?

Out
creator-director Ray Young
performers Azara Meghie, Bambi Phillips Jordan
set Naomi Kuyck-Cohen • costumes Mia Maxwell
lighting Nao Nagai • sound Naomi Jackson
Lilian Baylis Studio, Sadler's Wells, London • 25-26.Apr.24 ★★★

An astonishing celebration of culture and queerness, this experimental piece is quite demanding of the audience, as it uses dance and performance art to both delight and provoke the senses. Skilfully performed, and staged with a wonderful mix of lights, costumes, music and even smells, the show is energetic and also somewhat indulgent in extended, repetitive sequences that are carefully designed to make a point.

The first section features Jamaican music, with performers Azara Meghie and Bambi Phillips Jordan already circling around each other as the audience enters the studio and takes seats around the edge of the dance floor. This Caribbean vibe kicks up a gear as Vybz Kartel's It Bend Like Banana blasts from the speakers, and the dancers begin striking lively acrobatic poses while both oozing attitude and gleefully hamming it up for the crowd and each other. Sexy and sleek, their costumes are made of leather and lace with red accents.

In the style of an epic lip-sync, they alter their costumes on-stage, losing the lace and replacing trainers with stiletto-heeled boots, and the music changes gear. Their body-positive chemistry is strong, adding a sexy vibe as puffs of smoke billow across the space and both the music and choreography take on more sensual R&B rhythms. Behind this are spoken words that emerge as an evangelistic sermon exploding with homophobia. The words become louder, and the movement gets stuck on repeat, locked in spotlight squares for what seems like an eternity.

Finally, they are able to break out of this nightmare to the groove of Sylvester's Do You Wanna Funk, producing a bucket of oranges, which they begin to peel in silence, competing to de-skin each one in a single spiral move. Once all the oranges are peeled, they pass halves to the audience and begin eating them in increasingly seductive ways, covering the stage with juice and flooding our nostrils with the scent.

Through all of this, both Meghie and Phillips Jordan allow their personalities to come through, playfully using their distinct physicalities as they blur the lines of culture, race and sexuality. Aside from the extremely extended middle section, which is deliberately harrowing, they also have a lot of fun with each other, and their cheeky smiles and seriously gifted dance skills combine to create a terrific atmosphere in which bigger ideas can swirl around hauntingly. It's rather elusive, but also unforgettable.

For details, SADLER'S WELLS >

photos by Jack Thomson, Rosie Powell • 25.Apr.24

Critical Week: On the front line

I've missed several big films recently simply because studios are not notifying me about press screenings. Screenings are taking place, but they tend to only invite influencers; in other words, studios just want an Insta post, not a full review. It's been frustrating to watch distributors undermine the entire industry like this, but I have stopped chasing these things. So if it's something I want to see, I'll watch it later. It took me a week or so, but I finally saw Alex Garland's new film Civil War at my local cinema. It's a strikingly well-made, involving thriller that feels oddly hollow in the middle, where a thoughtful exploration of the story's political reality should be. The terrific cast includes Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura and Cailee Spaeny (above), plus a nerve-jangling cameo from Jesse Plemmons. I'll try to catch up with others I missed, like Monkey Man and Kung Fu Panda 4, as well.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Infested • Challengers
Kidnapped • Omen
Drifter • Nowhere Special
ALL REVIEWS >

As for upcoming movies, I watched the satirical fantasy The American Society of Magical Negroes, a fascinating approach to a complex racial theme starring Justice Smith and David Alan Grier. It's entertaining, but the plot abandons pointed comedy for a simple romcom. Nikki Amuka-Bird is excellent in the contained and rather thin thriller Jericho Ridge, which is relentless enough to hold the attention. 

Marco Bellocchio's historical drama Kidnapped recounts a jaw-dropping story from 18th century Italy. The film is overlong, but gripping. From Germany, the involving but uneven drama Elaha is set in the Kurdish subculture as a young woman struggles with her heritage. And it felt like spider week for me as I faced off against the insanely intense, brilliantly well-made Infested from France and it's an alien spider that causes blackly hilarious mayhem in Sting, set in Brooklyn but made in Australia

There were also two press nights for stage shows. Why I Stuck a Flare Up My Arse for England at Southwark Playhouse Borough is a ripping one-man show, both hilariously raucous and darkly moving as it explores Britain's lad culture. And Roy Young's dance piece Out at Sadler's Wells is provocative, playful, demanding and perhaps a bit indulgent.

This coming week I've got: Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt in The Fall Guy, Josh O'Connor in La Chimera, Lea Seydoux in The Beast, Jesse Eisenberg in Sasquatch Sunset, a new version of Lassie, Argentine drama Adios Buenos Aires, British actor doc Much Ado About Dying and a new production of King Lear at Riverside Studios.

Stage: Pride and also prejudice

Why I Stuck a Flare Up My Arse for England
written and performed by Alex Hill
director Sean Turner
dramaturg Jake Vithana
sound Sam Baxter • lighting Matt Cater
Southwark Playhouse, Borough • 17.Apr-4.May.24 ★★★★

Expanding on a real event, this one-man show is a high-energy exploration of Britain's lad culture, performed with full-on commitment by writer Alex Hill. Making full use of the stage while interacting with the audience, Hill digs deeply into the allure of belonging to a club, as well as the personal cost of getting caught up in collective beliefs and behaviour. It's a powerful show that's bracingly accurate, blisteringly funny and darkly moving.

Hill is playing Billy, a die-hard 25-year-old football fan from southwest London who has gone viral as #bumflareman for sticking a lit flare in his bare backside after binging on alcohol and cocaine for the entire day before sneaking into Wembley to watch England lose to Italy in the European Cup final in July 2021. Speaking to a radio presenter, Billy is unrepentant about his actions, and goes on to describe his childhood with best pal Adam and their love for football. He also speaks about his relationship with his artistic widower father and his girlfriend Daisy, as well as the thuggish Winegum who runs his firm of football fanatics.

The script is so finely written and performed that it feels like we get to know all of these people along the way, and we can also see through Billy's delusions about each of them as he misreads a wide range of situations and conversations. All of this emerges as Hill bounces around the stage hilariously, throwing witty comments around while winning the audience over with a combination of joyfully exuberant personality and emotions that he keeps just barely beneath the surface.

The stage is fairly simple, with a wall of "Eng-er-land" flags and a couple of boxes that are cleverly used to create a range of locations. Hill gives Billy a kinetic sense of youthful confidence, darting around, downing pints and snorting powder, singing and dancing with abandon, accompanied by clever sound and lighting effects, including that bum-flare moment. He also sidles right into a row of punters to act out the show's most amusing sequence, during which Billy misses a match to attend a performance of Les Miserables with Daisy, having an epiphany in the process.

In each anecdote that Billy recounts with his engaging spark, there is striking insight into the collective hooligan mindset. But what makes the show even more provocative is the way it grapples with the racist and homophobic language these young people throw alongside the punches, never thinking about who might get hurt. It might have been even more resonant if the play addressed these things explicitly, because this vital theme remains between the lines. But as the narrative resolves itself around Billy and Adam's friendship, it becomes intensely haunting, leaving us with a plenty think about.

For information: SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE >

photos by Rah Petherbridge • 22.Apr.24

Critical Week: Pucker up

This week I attended the UK premiere of Jeanne du Barry, which opened last year's Cannes Film Festival. And there was a very rare red carpet appearance by Johnny Depp, who introduced the film with filmmaker-costar Maiwenn. It's a great film, a lavish true costume drama with an earthy edge to it. (Yes, I snapped pics for Instagram as always - see below). And then there was the lively press screening of Luca Guadagnino's new film Challengers, which stars Zendaya, Josh O'Connor and Mike Faist in perhaps the most detailed love triangle ever put on film. It's absolutely breathtaking cinema.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
If Only I Could Hibernate
Jeanne du Barry • The Book of Clarence
Boys on Film 24 Happy Endings
ALL REVIEWS >

Also this past week, I caught up with Matthew Modine as a cycling coach in Hard Miles, a warm-hearted true story that feels a bit obvious but still inspires. Jo Hartley leads an ensemble of British comical actors in the hilarious mock-doc Swede Caroline, although the plot spirals out of control. The French Canadian comedy-tinged romance The Nature of Love is a bracingly honest look at the rules of attraction, beautifully directed and played by a terrific ensemble cast. The Mexican drama All the Fires finds new things to say in a darkly involving coming-of-age story. I attended the premiere of the bracingly energetic music doc Bass Impact, which outlines the history of dubstep with real flair. And we also had the short film compilation Boys on Film 24: Happy Endings, which is said to be the final edition of the long-running series (I've covered all of them).

This coming week I'll be watching Justice Smith in The American Society of Magical Negroes, Nikki Amuka-Bird in Jericho Ridge, the historical drama Kidnapped, the German drama Elaha, and two spider-based horror movies: Infested from France and Sting from Australia. I also have two stage performances to attend.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Rich Jack Cline (@ukcline)

Critical Week: Watch out

There were a range of more offbeat movies to watch this week, which always makes this job a bit more fun. Not a blockbuster in sight! Furthest afield was the Belgian-Congolese odyssey Omen, a powerful exploration of identity with terrific characters and colourful settings. From Ireland, All You Need Is Death is a delightfully unnerving folk horror about a cursed song. And from Japan, Spy x Family Code: White is frankly bonkers animation (a feature expanded from the Netflix series) about a assembled family made up of a spy, an assassin, a telepath and a dog who can see the future. Jaw-droppingly hilarious.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Close Your Eyes • Opponent
The Teachers' Lounge • Omen
Since the Last Time We Met
ALL REVIEWS >

Back to more mainstream fare, we had the Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black, a strongly well-made if incomplete film anchored by a tremendous performance by Marisa Abela. I loved The Book of Clarence, an uneven biblical comedy-drama that's both silly and earnest, but works thanks to LaKeith Stanfield. And then there was Liuben is an awkwardly dubbed Spanish-Bulgarian drama with a strong story about a repressive society. And the delightful Steve! (Martin): A Documentary in 2 Pieces engagingly traces the comedian's life from stand-up to movie stardom and beyond.

I also watched three films from Argentina: Close Your Eyes is an epic-length mystery that makes the most of its extended running time with an attention to character and detail; Since the Last Time We Met is a remarkably sensitive look at a rekindled relationship; and Carnal Sins is a clever, beautifully made folk horror about a monster in the woods. 

This coming week I'll be watching Zendaya in Challengers, Johnny Depp in Jeanne du Barry, Matthew Modine in Hard Miles, the Canadian romcom The Nature of Love, Mexican drama All the Fires, the mock-doc Swede Caroline and the final compilation in the series Boys on Film 24: Happy Endings.

Stage: Past the wit of man to say what dream it was

FLABBERGAST THEATRE’S
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
by William Shakespeare
director/designer Henry Maynard
with Lennie Longworth, Reanne Black, Krystian Godlewski, Simon Gleave, Elliot Pritchard, Vyte Garriga, Nadav Burstein, Paulina Krzeczkowska
music Nick Hart • lighting Rachel Shipp
Wilton's Music Hall, London • 9-20.Apr.24 ★★

As with last year's staging of The Tragedy of MacBeth, Flabbergast presents Shakespeare's oft-performed comedy in a blindingly impenetrable flurry of lavish costumes, masks, puppets and outrageous physicality. There are moments of genius along the way, with a playful play on gender and clever touches that are hilarious, moving and strikingly visual. Those who know the play well will find plenty to enjoy. Others will struggle to understand much of the over-performed dialog, which makes it impossible to get involved in the story. So the farce begins to feel like it will never end.

Set in Athens, this is the lively multi-strand story of four lovelorn young people lost in a forest where fairies are manipulating their emotions. Hermia and Lysander (Krzeczkowska and Pritchard) are trying to run away together, while Hermia's best friend Helena (Garriga) wants to capture her crush Demetrius (Burstein). Fairy Queen Titania and King Oberon (Black and Godlewski) use the sprite Puck (Longworth) to manipulate their affections, but get tricked themselves. Meanwhile, a troupe of actors led by the preening Bottom (Gleave) gets entangled in the chaos.

The lushly cluttered set features a large carriage, as if a theatre company stopped alongside the road to perform for us. This gives the show an intriguing timeless feel, and we can almost imagine the play being put on like this 400 years ago. With colourful costumes and props, and a clever use of the venue, the actors invest their full bodies into these roles, creating sparky personalities, big emotions and pointed interaction. Standout turns from the clownishly gifted Godlewski and the fearlessly silly Gleave keep us laughing; they and others provide a few moments of pathos. The entire cast has such a big stage presence, overflowing with cheeky energy, that it's fun to watch, even if we can only rarely make out the words spoken in such a range of accents amid constant physical movement.

Punctuated by group sing-songs, wildly energetic action and of course an entire play within the play, there's plenty here to hold the attention, even if the incomprehensible delivery makes it feel like it drags on far too long. What's most surprising is that there's nothing particularly new or enlightening about this production, which for all its irreverence is slavishly respectful toward both Shakespeare's play and traditional performances of it. Perhaps Flabbergast needs to more inventively adapt their approach to their audience, because this production feels like it's only made to please themselves.

For details, WILTON'S MUSIC HALL >

photos by Michael Lynch • 10.Apr.24