An Evening with Gene Montague – Rosemary Branch Theatre, Islington (Camden Fringe) 

Reviewer: Christine Stanton

Writers: Robert Thomas & Lewis King

Director: Natalia Lewis

“Has Potential, Needs Polishing“

2.5 / 5

Gene Montague is a famous actor, best known for his work in various theatre productions across the UK. Tonight, he is supposed to be sitting down with Jamie Pringle – theatre critic and host of ‘An Evening With’ – where he interviews established celebrities about their lives and careers. But Jamie is nowhere to be seen, so stand-in Aubrey must take to the stage and conduct the Q&A instead – what could go wrong?

The character of Gene Montague is well portrayed by Woody Franklyn – a Garth Marenghi type, fully invested in the larger-than-life roles he portrays within his shows and yet slightly awkward and introverted in real life. Lewis King (Aubrey) is great as the unprepared host, jumping through his cue cards and uncomfortably trying to build a connection with Gene, with little success. The questioning could be pushed a little further to draw out some more humorous responses, as it currently is leaning more towards realistic and sparse on comedy, but it has a good starting point that can be developed further in future shows. In addition to the questioning, Gene also performs monologue excerpts from various shows he has appeared in. Although these are funny at points, they are slightly too long and repetitive, making what was originally amusing, become a bit stagnant.

The premise of this show is heavily based around the ‘dark secret’ that is supposedly being hidden, so throughout the performance there is a build-up of intrigue surrounding what the secret is and how it will be revealed. The execution, rather than being a shocking twist or revelation – is instead a quick reference to the hidden information, a lacklustre response and then an abrupt end to the show, leaving the audience disappointed and unsatisfied.

This is a character heavy show and both Gene and Aubrey are written to be entertaining enough personalities to keep both the Q&A and the monologues engaging. While it isn’t quite polished enough yet, the foundations are there for a unique and comedic show – it just has to be honed slightly better to really entertain an audience.

Runs until 17 August 2023