Brighton Fringe 2017
Enter the Dragons
A&E Comedy
Genre: Absurd Theatre, Clown, Comedic, Comedy, Physical Theatre, Slapstick Comedy
Venue: Exeter Hall
Festival: Brighton Fringe
Low Down
A hilarious show which challenges us and our societal norms regarding mature women whilst making us laugh, and will be enjoyed by women and men of all ages.
Review
This show was written and performed by classic clown duo Abigail Dooley and Emma Edwards, who explore the subject of female ageing in a delightfully silly way, yet still manage to convey meaningful insights via slapstick comedy and farce. They play a variety of characters, ranging from ancient gods and goddesses to doctors and disco divas, and they both get a chance to play the protagonist. The fourth wall is broken many times as they pause the action to explain what’s going on to the audience – for example to tell us why they use the term ‘protagonist’ to describe their lead character as she embarks upon her epic journey rather than ‘heroine’ – because the latter term is connected with the quest for romantic love. This is a piece about women who are moving beyond that, and are searching for meaning and purpose in life after age 50, and who are questioning and exploring their identity as a mature woman.
The staging is simple, using white paper and a variety of props such as dolls, puppets, and a wide range of fabulous costumes and disguises. There is very effective use of recorded sound and music, and the pair sing a fabulously rude song live, accompanied by accordion, which had the audience in stiches.
As well as references to the experience of women of a ‘certain age’ (invisibility, fading looks, forgetfulness) there were also numerous entertaining cultural references scattered throughout, such as having to roll your clothes rather than fold them (from a popular de-cluttering book) and comedy lit-up spectacles being worn to explore the underworld (as used by the band of the same name).
The show is directed by Toby Park of Spymonkey fame, and Will Kerley. It was designed by Lucy Bradridge, also of Spymonkey.
This is a delightful show which challenges us and our societal norms regarding mature women whilst making us laugh, and will be enjoyed by women and men of all ages.
