Stage: The winner takes it all

Miss Brexit
directors Alejandro Postigo & Amaia Mugica
composer Harvey Cartlidge & Tom Cagnoni
with George Berry, Shivone Dominguez Blascikova, Ricardo Ferreira, Maxence Marmy, Isabel Mulas, Alba Villaitodo
Omnibus Theatre, Clapham • 11-15.Feb.25 ★★★★

Developed through improvisation by a group of immigrants in London, this smart, riotous comedy carries a strong thematic kick in its knowing observations and sharp-edged humour. It's also strikingly well-staged, with terrific songs by Harvey Cartlidge and Tom Cagnoni, colourful choreography and amusingly scene-stealing performances from an up-for-it cast. As the performers explore the immigrant experience with broad humour and pointed insight, it's the deeper ideas that resonate. Which makes this a scrappy gem of a show.

The six performers bound into the empty theatre space, which is brightened up by coloured lights and a big screen with helpful projections, including national flags, backdrops, subtitles and song lyrics. Dressed in shiny swimsuits are contestants from Spain/Slovakia (Dominguez Blascikova), Portugal (Ferreira), Switzerland (Marmy), Italy (Mulas) and Catalonia (Villaitodo). And the perky MC (Berry) informs us that, thanks to Brexit, only one of them will win a visa to remain in the UK, and it's up to the audience to choose.

What follows is a series of battles, as these divas get a chance to dress in their national outfits and deliver their personal sob stories to win the audience's sympathies. They are eliminated one by one until only the winner remains. And there's a lot of fun to be had along the way, with a series of raucous musical numbers, audience interaction and full-on comedy schtick, all expertly performed by the superb cast. And the way the show continually deploys and subverts cliches and archetypes is fiendishly clever. The comments about British culture are both lacerating and hilarious.

Each of the performers shines in his or her own way. Berry holds the centre with a cheeky, sometimes gleefully evil grin, skilfully deploying his hunky physicality and lightning-quick wit. Around him, the contestants are all hugely engaging, each finding funny gags in the continually gyrating scenes. Standouts are Ferreira's cross-dressing Miss Portugal, whose puppy-dog earnestness combines with a wicked seductive streak, and the outrageously funny Villaitodo, who walks off with the show as the diminutive, almost terrifyingly feisty Miss Catalonia.

All of this sometimes feels like a group of young people making up a show as they go, playfully swapping costumes and props to add terrific details while deploying a brisk sense of improv-style timing. So the jokes frequently catch us (and them) by surprise, eliciting a continual stream of laughter and applause. And the way all of this is deepened with genuine emotion, which comes from the performers' own stories, allows the show to offer both witty observations about Britain and the importance of creating your own tribe, wherever you find yourself.

For more, MISS BREXIT > 

photos by Jake Bush & Hana Ptáčková • 12.Feb.25

Stage: A mi manera

Copla: A Spanish Cabaret
writer-performer Alejandro Postigo
musicians Violeta Valladares, Jack Elsdon
director Sergio Maggiolo
video design Ricardo Ferreira
The Other Palace, London • 14-26.Jan.25 ★★★★

Entertaining on several layers, this terrific show explores a specific strain of Spanish music that evokes big emotions, provoking audiences for over a century with implications that subvert what's considered traditional morality. It's performed by Alejandro Postigo with charm, wit and a sharp political undercurrent that continually elicits laughter even as he makes important points about sexuality and immigration. And while it sometimes feels like a Ted Talk as it uses a large video screen to teach us about copla, the show is also strikingly personal, which makes it deeply moving for anyone who feels at odds with the status quo. And the music is simply gorgeous.

In The Other Palace's studio space, the stage looks like a dressing room, with hats, shawls, fans and dresses on the wall plus some glittery flourishes, all of which come into play. Violinist Violeta Valladares and keyboardist Jack Elsdon serenade us as we enter, and then Postigo arrives with a conspiratorial grin, explaining his qualifications before launching into a bracingly enjoyable tour through copla's history in Spain and Latin America. Strong resonance emerges everywhere, such as the tracing of an early copla classic written in French as Mon Homme, performed in Spain and then popularised as My Man by a string of divas from Fanny Brice to Billy Holiday, Barbra Streisand, Diana Ross and Whitney Houston.

Copla is distinguished by its big drama, telling stories of love outside what is considered proper, so it has always appealed to outsiders, most notably drag artists. In between gorgeous performance numbers in which he cleverly mixes Spanish and English lyrics, Postigo speaks intimately about how this music captured his attention as a child, then became more important to him as he discovered his queer identity. So the way the music was censored in the Franco era becomes a running theme, and it's driven home beautifully in clips of Postigo interacting with his lively 101-year-old grandmother.

Over the course of this hour-long show, Postigo reveals himself as he explores the universal impact of copla, which crosses cultures and subcultures powerfully revealing a deeper identity and a sense of belonging. Postigo's performance involves several evocative visual gender shifts, mixing masculinity with femininity both in his ever-changing outfits and his soaring voice, climaxing with a show-stopping performance of My Way before a joyous karaoke-style singalong. It's a cheeky, informative and hugely entertaining show that carries a lovely emotional kick.

For information, THE COPLA >

photos by Jake Bush & John Kentish • 17.Jan.25