RAPPORT FRINGE ... MARGINAAL VERSLAG ... FRINGE BERICHT
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drinks Monday 4 August 08
GAG
Verdict: Glorious sparkling piss-take of PR
London - Etcetera Theatre - December 02
12 Nov-1 Dec (not Mondays)
This glorious quick play (around an hour) takes the piss ruthlessly out of PR and the managers of 'artistes'. If that's your line - of coke or work - you'll love it (and most likely recognise who's being sent up). If not, and blagging PRs hoovering sushi make you reach for that reassuring bag of rancid tomatoes the prudent carry for emergency character deflation, you'll love it even more.
Dave Chutney's quite the worst stand-up to pitch into a comedy competition, but manager Sam believes in him. Dave likes puns, and whether we do or not, he's aiming for the crown at the Barking Mad Comedy Club, Barking, alma mater of the legendary Arthur Wigan. Sam says Dave's puns 'can have evangelical weight'. Judge for yourself.
Marc is Sam's business partner in management, thinks Dave Chutney's crap, and wants his own man Phil French to win. Marc's dealing into his mobile, signing up the Four Horsemen of The Apocalypse and devastating in the cruelty (and comedic hilarity) of his put-downs. Especially of poor weak Sam, who's a bit of a nutter, and short on logical thinking circuits. Tuesday's competition's looming, and Marc's determined his man's going to crush.
Sam's a loser (Marc: 'Where do you live? Leyton - Zone 3. I live in Primrose Hill. Don't you think it's significant?'), and chews his sleeve in distress. He's in love with Ellie ('I met a girl called Ellie. So beautiful, I fainted.') She writes for the Dalston Echo and shakes his hand: 'We met tending an injured monkey on the High Road.'
Marc's keen to give us a 'taster of Phil French's act. The greasy love-nuts of comedy'. Phil's unseen, and au fait with new directions in comedy ('Nigger!' 'Sex with kids!' 'Spastics!') Marc's sure he's going to win and takes Ellie out.
Ellie's dedicated to guiding principles in her life, she's unimpressed by Marc's choice of restaurant, life-style, and line in leper derision. Ellie's father's monkey-face and voluntary donation of limbs in exchange for plastic prosthetic substitutes suggest a lineage incompatible with Marc's. And she already carries a torch. Dad's dying wish for marine ash-burial introduced Ellie to her lost love Jorge, while deep-sea diving off the South American coast. ('He squeezed my ass. "Great donkey", he said. "Great ass."') But he died, so they say. In any case, she wants to meet Dave - he could be interesting.
Just how interesting - and relevant - Dave turns out to be, is one of the neat twists in this cleverly constructed and extremely funny play. Will Sam find happiness with Ellie? Will Dave see "Chutney" splattered in neon above the Barking Mad Club, Barking? Will Marc finally get to represent the Four Horsemen of The Apocalpse? All is revealed.
The lynchpin of Gag is the towering, wicked, and hugely endearing figure of Marc, played with electrifying hilarity and astounding delivery of the immensely complex script, by Nick Collett - an actor who could make the phone book funny. But the significance of this character depends entirely on the excellent construction of the play, in particular the superbly-written and acted part of Sam. Gwynfor Jones plays him to perfection, enlisting our affection alongside our concern for his mental health. His set-ups for Marc's deflations are written with inspiration and delivered with a fine sense of comedy.
Dave Chutney is delivered ecstatically by Phil Gilbert, a creation who's quite mad, and fully compatible with Sam: they form another comic pairing. Gilbert's a skilled and inspired actor performing a complex part beautifully - it's a pleasure to enjoy this kind of excellence. Lucy Middleweek gives a compelling delivery of Ellie, madder possibly than Dave and Sam (though it's close), and Middleweek presents her with a portrayal of extreme reasonableness. It makes what comes out of her mouth the more hilarious, and unsettling. Middleweek constructs from Ellie both a strong stand-alone character, and an effective jig-saw piece tightly interlocked with the other characters.
Phil Gilbert and Gwynfor Jones (who play Dave and Sam respectively) are the writers of this superb piece of dramatic excellence. They deserve any awards they receive, as do the whole cast, for producing this hilarious play: a true gem of comic delight.
Credits (alpha order): Nick Collett (Marc), Phil Gilbert (Dave Chutney),
Gwynfor Jones (Sam), Lucy Middleweek (Ellie). Director - Will Gore. Writers - Gwynfor Jones and Phil Gilbert. Company - Evil Ink. With help from: Johnson Burbank.
END
John Park
reviewed Wednesday 27 November 02 / Etcetera Theatre
Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2008
