Brighton Fringe 2014
Funny Peculiar:Red Herring Productions
Red Herring (UK)
Genre: Site-Specific
Venue: Promenade Production commencing at the Theatre Royal
Festival: Brighton Fringe
Low Down
A guided tour around the centre of Brighton being introduced to various eccentric characters who have lived in Brighton and on the walk participants of the walk are encouraged to do some eccentric actions.
Review
This is a walk but there are scenes of famous events enacted by our guides Lesley and Leslie, dressed colourfully in orange and yellow, with the participation of the participants of the walk. We meet at the Theatre Royal and wander around the centre of Brighton,sometimes with an audio feed on headphones, hearing about various eccentric characters who have lived there. I think more information could have been found out about some of the early eccentric characters who are mentioned but we are not told dates or much about them. Perhaps it would be good to relate them more to actual buildings if possible. It was interesting to hear about some of the more modern eccentrics who lived in Brighton including Dougie Byng who was the first pantomime dame but again I think more funny anecdotes about these characters would make the walk more interesting. Some of the best enjoyment of the walk is watching people watching us doing silly things while following instructions over the headphones.
It is a very pleasant walk through the streets of Brighton but perhaps more suitable to visitors to Brighton who do not know it so well. There was only one little alleyway which I was unaware of. Leslie and Lesley are charming guides who certainly encourage a good group feeling with all the people who are on the walk. With a bit more research to find more information about the eccentric characters of Brighton these walks could become very popular in Brighton.