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Brighton Fringe 2014

Le Foulard

Lucy Hopkins

Genre: Physical Theatre

Venue: Brighton Spiegeltent

Festival:


Low Down

 This is a performance art show performed by a very talented performer using only a scarf as a prop.

Review

This is a most remarkable show.  I laugh all the way through it from the moment Lucy Hopkins enters and runs around the Spiegeltent covered in a long black wrap like scarf. She then presents herself, dressed simply in black, to the audience with a huge grin and waits for applause which duly comes.

Many sketches take place, using the scarf in different positions, often reverting back to the same characters & questions are posed. What is art all about? Is it really for the artist or for the spectators? Half of the time she takes the mickey out of the audience by simply swirling the scarf and waiting for applause then looking at us as if to say why are you applauding?

Do we know what we are doing? Does she know what she is doing? At one stage she runs in circles covered by the scarf for a good few minutes & then waits for the applause which comes again but all she had done was run round in circles. Is this performance art? She then, with great effort, manages as the character to abandon the scarf. Is she foresaking art? She also strips off her black costume to reveal herself in a simple leotard. Is this baring her soul for art? She mentions the melange of arts and the soul or as she calls it ‘Artsoul’. Even the title ‘Le Foulard’, which she kindly informs us is French, is used pretentiously instead of calling the piece a banal ‘The Scarf’.

Lucy Hopkins has a most expressive face, changing her expressions in an instant, quite often leading to hilarious laughter from the audience. She also has incredibly flexible arms which she uses to great effect to suggest various activities and at one stage, one arm seems to belong to someone else. Her engaging personality is used it to great effect in connecting with the audience. She also has a most beautiful singing voice, translating ‘La Vie en Rose’ for us. I laugh and laugh but why do I laugh so much? A brilliant performance very well suited to the space of the Spiegeltent.

Published