City of Cake ****
Fri, 16 Mar 2007, 08:15 amGordon the Optom1 post in thread
City of Cake ****
Fri, 16 Mar 2007, 08:15 amThe lights rise and with Jeffrey Jay Fowler’s creepy Wagnerian music the scene is set. It is a city called Cake, and very like Gotham City it has its good and evil inhabitants. None more evil than Mad Patti (wonderfully manic Natalie Holmwood) who lives in a cauldron, she almost oozes venom and has a secret power over the city. She commences with a bedtime story from her ‘Spot the Dog’ book, a rendition which would put fear into any adult, let alone a child. She is a man-hater and probably a misogynist too, and has secret plans for the inhabitants.
It is a city where over the years the men have slowly disappeared. Some girls like Jam (Natalie Pinnock), who despite an incestuous relationship, misses her father. On finding a sex manual decides that Broccoli, her boyfriend, may not be as sexually satisfying as she thinks. She decides to look for other men who have disappeared, and so with the help of a couple of old school friends, detective Honey (Oda Aunan) and Vegemite (Andrea Jenkins) they set off in search.
The whole production is very cleverly conceived, and is essentially a live version of a comic strip such as Batman. The dialogue is short and sharp, as in a comic, and the movements straight from the page with even a couple of ‘Kruncch!’ And ‘Kerpows’ throw in.
Director, Sharney Nougher, who was hilarious in Zen’s Red Mouth, has almost invented a new way of acting in this zany and very funny piece. The cast are wonderful and squeeze every ounce of humour form the script. I was overcome with the ammunition! This may not be everyone’s humour, but if you enjoy the Luke Milton’s shows or ‘Manic Pony’ then this could be for you. Good fun, professionally performed.
The lights rise and with Jeffrey Jay Fowler’s creepy Wagnerian music the scene is set. It is a city called Cake, and very like Gotham City it has its good and evil inhabitants. None more evil than Mad Patti (wonderfully manic Natalie Holmwood) who lives in a cauldron, she almost oozes venom and has a secret power over the city. She commences with a bedtime story from her ‘Spot the Dog’ book, a rendition which would put fear into any adult, let alone a child. She is a man-hater and probably a misogynist too, and has secret plans for the inhabitants.
It is a city where over the years the men have slowly disappeared. Some girls like Jam (Natalie Pinnock), who despite an incestuous relationship, misses her father. On finding a sex manual decides that Broccoli, her boyfriend, may not be as sexually satisfying as she thinks. She decides to look for other men who have disappeared, and so with the help of a couple of old school friends, detective Honey (Oda Aunan) and Vegemite (Andrea Jenkins) they set off in search.
The whole production is very cleverly conceived, and is essentially a live version of a comic strip such as Batman. The dialogue is short and sharp, as in a comic, and the movements straight from the page with even a couple of ‘Kruncch!’ And ‘Kerpows’ throw in.
Director, Sharney Nougher, who was hilarious in Zen’s Red Mouth, has almost invented a new way of acting in this zany and very funny piece. The cast are wonderful and squeeze every ounce of humour form the script. I was overcome with the ammunition! This may not be everyone’s humour, but if you enjoy the Luke Milton’s shows or ‘Manic Pony’ then this could be for you. Good fun, professionally performed.