TWO SHORTER REVIEWS OF THE SAME PLAY AT THE SAME VENUE ON THE SAME NIGHT BY TWO REVIEWERS!! Will their viewpoints coincide??? Read them both here......!!
A Ship Of Fools Theatre Company are in Manchester's eclectic Three Minute Theatre this week, presenting a double-bill of alternative Christmas spirit. The company specialise in an art-from known as Bouffon, which has derived from the clowning and physical theatre practices of Jacques LeCoq, and although it includes elements of other genres, such as Commedia Dell'Arte, slapstick, black humour, and Theatre of the Absurd; Bouffon is set apart inasmuch as they are a 'gang' - in this company's 'turned on its head' interpretation as the underdogs or dregs of society rather than the ones wearing the gorgeous flowing frocks and powdered wigs - and although their primary intention is not to mock that is invariably what happens through parodying or farcical situation and association, and whether that be self-mockery or mockery of others - and this is done through 'games' which on the face of it wouldn't be out of place in a party hosted by The Marquis De Sade. If you are still unsure, then mix 'The Mighty Boosh' and 'The League Of Gentlemen' with the works of Samuel Beckett, and you're pretty much there! This company's interpretation of Bouffon is a little different from what I have seen in the past - for me there is more Theatre Of The Grotesque here than my previous experiences. Much less playful, far darker, and more audience interaction make this company's work somewhat unique I would imagine. Something that was (and maybe still is) called 'Provokationstheater'.
In the first piece, 'From The Cradle To The Bin' we are in Happy Valley Care Home. A very dark, biting tale satirising with some skill the current care system for the elderly. Since both my parents are receiving care from the Adult Care /Social services network this piece was rather near the knuckle but both clever and poignant. Happy Valley Care Home is your worst nightmare; a place where the owner is so entrenched in her own filth that she wallows in it, whilst a singing care worker - also completely dirty from head to foot - looks after one of his residents, who seems very grateful to be living his days out squeezed into a small wheely-bin and force-fed stodgy porridge. His daughter decided it was time for him to be placed in care after he dropped a plate whilst washing up, and her daughter's birthday visit is superbly parodied. And as the Home's owner sings karaoke he finally dies, unnoticed and un-cared for behind her. The final scene in heaven with him giving a thank-you speech was heartbreaking.
This was a work-in-progress piece and certainly a few sections did not work as well as they could have done or seemed forced (eg: the milk delivery), but the piece was very much more in a recognisable play format than the second, and did remind me at times very much of Beckett's oeuvre.
Following this, we were welcomed into Paradise - or maybe Lapland - with an almost one-man piece in which the creepiest Father Christmas ever showers you with sweets, asks you if you have been naughty or nice, plays games with you, all before he introduces us to one of his elves who enters thin, emaciated, wearing a striped t-shirt top very reminiscent of the Nazi POW camp uniform (was this intentional?) and the domination games and humiliation process began. You thought you knew Santa?? Think again!
What is remarkable about this company is that we, the audience, are always made to be complicit in their actions, we too are willingly led by the nose into their sordid and cruel world; their audience interaction being a large and important part of their show. We are weeing ourselves with laughter one second and shocked and crying the next. We find ourselves laughing at things which we ought not to be laughing at. We find ourselves enjoying their sadistic 'games' - but then check ourselves suddenly in self-realisation and find it shocking and horrific. The company's ability to control and manipulate an audience's feelings and reactions in this way is incredible and absolute credit to the cast (three for the first piece and two of them for the second) who have taken Bouffon from out of the closet - puffed up their cheeks in readiness - and proudly show it off as a credible art-form which will have you enthralled and shying away at almost the exact same moment. Perfectly timed and perfectly pitched, this style of comedy is certainly not for everyone, that much is clear - but if you are looking for something a little more challenging than the banal and puerile usual comedy fayre and don't mind challenging yourself, then this company's works are an absolute must!
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 19/12/18
and the second review........
A Ship of Fools Theatre company returns to 3MT thirteen months after bringing 'Welcome To Paradise' now revamped and part of a double-bill with 'From The Cradle To The Bin'. Although the script of the former has hardly changed, it felt like a different show this time around, largely because the mad-cap buffoonery is now measured with a lot more pregnant pauses, giving the audience time to reflect on the pathos and consider what they are witnessing from a more human perspective. The genre of Bouffon Theatre, which is the principal inspiration for A ship of Fools, is a curious mix of recurring light and dark in which the audience is variously made to laugh or feel uncomfortable, (or sometimes both at the same time).
'From The Cradle To The Bin' is an interesting take on how the most dispossessed can feel strangely lucky and the audience is left wondering whether this is due to genuine appreciation or mental illness. The pace is for the most part very slow but this would appear to be deliberate because the audience is given much to ponder from the perspective of life inside a wheeley-bin. 'Welcome To Paradise' is a pacier, more dynamic show and is frequently very funny until sudden changes make the onlooker wonder if this is something they should really be laughing at. This is ‘in-yer-face’ theatre of the most literal sort where any member of the audience is at constant risk of being victimised but this gives the experience an unusual degree of edginess.
There is a kind of parallel here to the old Norman Wisdom films where mad-cap comedy would suddenly give way to seeing a put-down little man hitherto viewed very funny now as a victim, be that of big business or society at large (and this is precisely what made the film palatable to the communist Albanian government). A Ship of Fools can hardly be described as a political theatre company but their offerings certainly cause the audience to think of the homeless, the mentally ill and other disadvantaged individuals who have fallen through the net which at the same time provides much excellent comedy.
This a daring and at times disturbing double-bill of anarchic, mad-cap comedy which also gives food for thought, providing a rare and unusual theatrical experience.
Reviewer - John Waterhouse
on - 19/12/18
...........................................
Welcome To Paradise & From The Cradle To The Bin are on at 3MT until Saturday 22nd December. For more details, log on to ashipoffools.co.uk
No comments:
Post a Comment