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Latest items? Unedited? Fringe Report Uncut
The Joy of Wine
Verdict: Wine-tasting parody
The Very Rev Andrew ('Call me Andy') Jones presents an hour of wine instruction assisted by his protegé ('he has the most sensitive mouth I've ever come upon') Ciaran Murtagh. It's an hour of sly comedy.
Rev Jones Hugh Jones is a vicar of the beaming variety. Ciaran (Ciaran Murtagh) is his red-faced, red-haired, and faintly embarrassed-looking assistant. Rev Jones wears black trousers, shirt and dog-collar, and a tweed jacket with risqué brown suede collar; a couture quirk echoed in the light-brown flash in the middle of Ciaran Murtagh's dark-brown brogues below his black suit. Pair of bounders, very likely.
Professor Nigel Bluewater, legendary author of the Wine Clopaedia, is identified in the front row. German Chancellor Hitler pops up (literally). There's music from Thus Spake Zarathustra to The Big Country. There's a fine sketch punning on wine titles; the condescending wine waiter; the four S's of wine; audience tasting; and a romp through history.
There's dancing in underpants, and an ending that could be described as a revelation.
Each actor delivers a monologue, and each is oddly moving. Ciaran Murtagh recall's his Blue Nun Encounter. Rev Jones muses over God & Wine.
The spoof-serious dialogue's undercut by deftly-inserted double-entendres (Rev Jones: 'Spit or swallow? The eternal dilemma'). Cal McCrystal directs a lively and unusual set of sketches masquerading loosely as a parody of the world of wine.
Cast Credits (alpha order): Hugh Jones, Ciaran Murtagh.
Company Credits: Writers - Hugh Jones, Ciaran Murtagh. Director - Cal McCrystal. Company - The Black Sheep. Venue Credits: Tonight: Lion & Unicorn Theatre: Artistic Director - Victor Sobchak. Stage Manager / Technical Operator - John Katon.
END
John Park
reviewed Monday 12 July 04 / Lion and Unicorn Theatre
Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012
www.fringereport.com
