Edinburgh Fringe 2010
Low Down
The show is inspired by the Coen Brothers film ‘Barton Fink’ The deadline approaches, as the novelist typewrites in flow, funny characters come out from his manuscript and draw him into the pages. Drifting and hovering between reality and absurdity, can he finally reach his Continent?
Review
This show is a treat for lovers of cartoon physicality, visual humour mime and Japanese sense of fun.
It is a fast paced cartoon mime show very reminiscent of fondly remembered mime companies such as The Moving Picture Mime Show particularly reminding me of their show set in an office “Handle With Care” This kind of mime show seemed to go out of fashion for a while but this is a welcome return for this genre handled with a Japanese aesthetic. We were also treated to some wonderfully obscure pieces of music which is such a relief when you’ve heard the theme from ‘mission impossible’ accompanying some frantic performance for the umpteenth time.
It started slow and I wasn’t sure whether I was going to like it but the sheer charm and accomplished naivete of the individual performers soon won me over. The first choral dance piece was wonderful to watch and from then on it was charming from start to finish.
Apparently inspired by the Coen Brothers film ‘Barton Fink’ so the publicity says, but you don’t really need to know that to enjoy the show, it quickly becomes clear that it is the story of the innocent but good man striving to win through and make his voice heard in a world of corruption, deceit, violence and outrageous bribery. And win he does, the girl, the contract, and the hearts of the audience though to be fair the whole company win the hearts of the audience and that is their great secret, each performer shines, each has a watchability all their own, from the tiny Terminator to the girl Friday each performer has a wonderful range of expressions and visual physical style.
I particularly liked the use of the elastic prop to create a whole range of instant situations.
Looking at the audience at the end was an education, you don’t often get such a bunch of happy faces all together, it was a sea of smiles, it’s a very happy show and the performers do the old circus trick of saying goodbye personally standing by the doors as the audience leaves. You’ve got to love them, totally unpretentious unreconstructed joyful mime from a far away continent!
