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Edinburgh Fringe 2012

The Beast

Stuart Bowden

Genre: Storytelling

Venue:

 Underbelly

Festival:


Low Down

Australia’s award winning performer Stuart Bowden is armed with a ukulele, loop pedal and an endearing story to tell. Meet Winslow – the beast. Winslow lives on the edge of a town and on special occasions he sneaks into town under cover of the night to watch the humans. The Beast is like that children’s book you still keep because the words and pictures make you smile like a child. It’s a bedtime lullaby for adults, with a well-written script and loop pedal magic. 

Review

Australia’s award winning performer Stuart Bowden is armed with a ukulele, loop pedal and an endearing story to tell. Meet Winslow – The Beast. Winslow lives on the edge of a town and on special occasions he sneaks into town under cover of the night to watch the humans. The Beast is like that children’s book you still keep because the words and pictures make you smile like a child. It’s a bedtime lullaby for adults, with a well-written script and loop pedal magic.

Bowden’s storytelling style is to first set the atmosphere with a little music, he layers ukulele rhythms with vocals. Once the backing track has been recorded he turns to us and tells us of the beast. He tells us now we have met the Beast it will stay with us forever; it will die with us when we die. This introduction is powerful and enchanting. The concept of planting something within us makes the event feel special.

The writing is witty and raw; Winslow is portrayed as a very human character that goes through regular daytime activities. We never see Winslow, and his physical appearance isn’t described so we have to imagine. At time I wished for more visual aids but did enjoy my own visions of Winslow, which only came due to lack of visual stimulus. Bowden embodies Winslow with amusing quirky movement; he dances, hides and digs! Winslow appears to be a very nimble character through Bowden’s representation.

The story progresses to reveal Winslow’s nemesis and also Winslow’s romantic interest. Here the story and the characters begin to resemble Beauty and the Beast, Shrek and King Kong. The writing is brilliant in it’s detail and mischievous humour but the events become a little predictable.

This show is worth seeing to meet Winslow, a cross-dressing clumsy but sweet natured beast, who much like us dreams of flying and falling. I would also recommend it for Bowden’s performance style, it’s simple and engaging with a nod to flight of the concord’s’ comic song writing. I would be interested to see this work performed out of a theatre venue, such an intimate and striped down event may be more comfortable in a pub or cafe. 

Published

Show Website

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