Reviewer: Christine Stanton
Writer: Sam Toocaram & Joe Sear-Myles
Director: Lois Attard
“Complicated but Charming”
3 / 5
~This review was originally written for The Reviews Hub ~
The play has begun – Sam hasn’t learnt his lines, Joe hasn’t turned up and Steve the sound guy is trying to figure out where he fits into the whole thing. When they notice that the stage door has disappeared and the script is being rewritten as they speak, they start to realise that they’re trapped inside their own play – with no idea of how to break out of it.
This utterly ridiculous, complicated yet entertainingly charming show doesn’t make sense in the slightest – but that’s the whole point. The surreal absurdity of each scene isn’t fully part of an intricate storyline (although it does all come under the narrative of being trapped within the script) but is instead supposed to just be enjoyed as silly comedy. There are a few funny breaks of the fourth wall where they reference the audience bizarrely sticking around while they stay on stage to figure out what is going on, and a handful of witty jokes woven into the script, but on the whole most of the comedy is derived from the slapstick style scenes between the three actors. The script occasionally goes slightly philosophical, commenting on the creative process and how audiences prefer to have concrete narratives to digest rather than just enjoying the moment, making the on-the-surface-simple show expose the underlying meta-objective of the writers.
Some sections of the show are so bizarre and nonsensical that even they don’t fit in with the over-arching concept of dysfunctional complication, and some scenes last a beat too long – coming across more like in-jokes between the creative team rather than a fully fleshed-out portion of the production. But although the audience has no idea what is going on half of the time, it surprisingly doesn’t matter, everyone has come for a comedic performance and that’s what they get.
Correctly dubbed as ‘clown farce’ the actors are well-skilled in physical comedy; their highly exaggerated movements and expressions circus-like in the execution. Sam (Sam Toocaram) and Joe (Joe Sear-Myles) are both full of energy and completely put their all into the performance, both clearly naturally comedic. Steve the sound guy (Artie Godden) initially starts as the responsible, serious ‘adult’ in the room, but he quickly gets sucked into the madness of the show. Godden gets many of the silly yet witty remarks, that work successfully in adding a different dimension to the ‘third actor’.
Bizarre or brilliant, meta or madness – or is it a combination of all of the above? One thing for certain is that whether you’re laughing at the insanity of it or because of their clown-like execution – you’re definitely still laughing.
Runs until 24 August 2023
RatedReviewed 
Completed
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