Saturday 11 December 2021

THEATRE REVIEW: The Curious Imposter Christmas Show - Hope Street Theatre, Liverpool.


'The Curious Imposter Christmas Show' is being performed at Hope Street Theatre in the heart of Liverpool.  Award-winning writer, Ste Mc proved his versatility by producing, directing and writing the show, which consisted of five short plays, all directed in a clear and concise manner. Beautifully written with emotional, heartfelt dialogue, tackling some hard-hitting subject matters. Some plays had a comical element, depending on the genre of their story. The acting of all the cast was of a great standard, and had a good dynamic chemistry and rapper for the fellow cast members. 

The first piece was 'Pillow Talk', and was very poignant for Ste Mc, as this was a true account of his own struggle with mental health, following the unexpected passing of his mother and his sister’s suicide attempt. Kyle Harrison-Pope did an excellent job delivering this heartbreaking monologue with emotion etched all over his facial expressions. Very honest portrayal of a man dealing with such a massive rollercoaster of emotions, whilst attempting to keep himself together for the sake of his sister. 

The second piece was 'The Naughty List', and featured our beloved Santa Claus (Mike Lockley) being interrogated by Detective Marsh (Faye Caddick) over his recent burglaries. Detective Marsh doesn’t believe he is really Santa Claus, whilst Detective Allen (Sam Alton) does her best to reason with her and let Santa continue doing his urgent business. Some really funny dialogue, which was a welcome relief, given some darker issues covered in this evening’s show.   

The third piece was 'Fish Finger Surprise', which was nominated for Best Comedy and Best Actress (Holly Murphy) at The Liverpool Fringe Festival Awards this year. The show centred around young couple, Tommy (John Smith) and Helen (Holly Murphy). Helen had a lot of insecurities regarding her relationship with Tommy and fears she may lose him. Tommy wants to ask something, but can’t get a word in, as Helen constantly keeps going "off on one" and jumping to the wrong conclusion. Very funny piece, littered with humour throughout

The fourth piece was 'Mary & Joseph', which told the story of two homeless people living on the streets of Liverpool. Mary (Rachael Kearney) was being abused by her stepfather and felt she had no other alternative, but to leave home and face the harsh reality of being homeless. On the streets, she met Joseph (Jordan Barkley), they formed a close bond together and became inseparable. On Christmas Eve, Man (Dominic Quinn) encountered the pair and offered to pay for them to stay in a hotel over the festive period, but tragic consequences awaited them. I thought Rachel gave an extremely powerful performance in her role as Mary.

The final piece was 'Imagine', which imagined what could have happened if John Lennon (Pete Washington) knew his would be murdered by Mark Chapman (Alex Feeney) on that fateful day in December 1980. This award-winning piece won Best Show (Ste Mc), Best Actor (Pete Washington) and Best Director (Abbey Fitzhenry) at this year’s Liverpool Fringe Festival. Wonderfully performed by Pete and Alex, who each gave a brilliant performance in their roles. Although an extremely tragic story, there were some brilliant one-liners amongst the dialogue.

Well done with all the technical aspects in 'The Curious Imposter Christmas Show.' I particularly liked the use of spotlights to highlight certain scenes in the show. Props were minimal, which were needed with the quick transition between all the shows. Stand-out costumes were Santa Claus in 'The Naughty List', and Helen’s outfit as an elf in 'Fish Finger Surprise'. Attention to detail was particularly used for the gun prop in 'Imagine', which was on loan from Killer House Props, which added so much authenticity to the piece. 

The main running theme in all the short plays was Christmas, as they were all set around this particular time or featured Christmassy songs. Other running themes included death, grief, loss, insecurities and relationships. The show had everything you’ll expect in a good show like friction, drama, conflict, comedy elements in some, delicate issues such mental health, suicide and homelessness were handled with sensitivity. 

On a final note, I would highly recommend seeing The Curious Imposter Christmas Show. All the short plays tackled a really good subject matter, which were superbly directed and written by Ste Mc and also performed by a really talented cast. Having such a small cast in each piece allowed the actors to flesh-out and develop their characters, whilst fully exploring their stories. I really hope 'The Curious Imposter Christmas Show' goes to a bigger theatre next time to reach new and larger audiences, who would love to see the show. 

Guest reviewer - Mark Cooper
on - 9.12.21

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