Edinburgh Fringe 2016
Low Down
Word cannot recreate the beauty of this performance. It is a unique experience for all ages.
Review
This show is what the fringe should be all about. You see hundreds of performances, all good enough, some almost great, and some only so-so …. All too much of the same old same old. Weary and soggy with Edinburgh’s unpredictable weather, you stumble into a venue off the beaten track and walk into an unforgettable gem.
Sheets is Kiki Lovechild at his charming, mesmerizing best. Words cannot do this show justice because it is mime. It is all visual, and it is magic. We see Kiki’s thoughts come to life as he turns a night of insomnia and loneliness into a beautiful experience, transporting us all to the best moments of our childhood. Kiki transforms a sheet and a pillow case into cloaks and hoods, caves and hiding places. We see him desperately trying to count stubborn sheep who won’t jump over a fence until he uses a stage blower to send the sheep flying into the air on a video screen.. The show is filled with music and visuals but they cannot overshadow Kiki himself. He fills us all with wonder, laughter and love. His performance is always touching, always funny and somehow more beautiful than a sunrise, a sunset or an enchanted forest. His is a unique work of art.
It is amazing how the audience responds to his direction without using words. Kiki invites many people on stage to help him out to create his bizarre impressions. Most memorable is when he has a woman become both his bride and the preacher. Everyone in the audience feels involved in this charming retrospect of how it feels when you just cannot go to sleep. There are so many beautiful moments in this show but this reviewer will always remember the sheep re-appearing and trying to get over that fence often stumbling then piling up on one another. At the end of the show Kiki leaves the earth and we see a our planet from a distance as he finally escapes into deep sleep. Not a single solitary word is spoken during the entire hour, yet everyone understands and responds viscerally to each moment of this lovely unforgettable hour.
The performance has everything; opera, tragedy, that bizarre mock wedding, burlesque and farce all simulated with a sheet and the versatile facial expressions that Kiki creates to communicate directly to our hearts.
As you trudge from show to show, bombarded with commercialism, huge posters promising experiences that degenerate into mediocrity, once seen, treat yourself to an unforgettable experience that will fill you with wonder. Sheets is a diamond of a show. We all need to see it to replenish our belief in the fundamental value of theatre at its best.
