Edinburgh Fringe 2015
The Wedding Reception
Interactive Theatre International
Genre: Comedy, Interactive
Venue: B'est Restaurant
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
Will and Kate just got married and mum wants to give them a special wedding reception, with hilarious results!
Review
Imagine being invited to Will and Kate’s wedding! Well, you can go to their Wedding Reception here at the Fringe, meet the family and congratulate them personally. Just one thing, this family is from the north of England! The Wedding Reception is clever interactive theatre where you will be surrounded by Kate the bride, William the groom, his best man, chatty mother, earthy father, a snappily dressed wedding planner and a couple of others. This show is brought to you by the same company who produces the successful interactive Faulty Towers: The Dining Experience, running at this venue at the Fringe.
Witty, hilarious and immersive, the guests are met in the courtyard where the show begins. There is the usual buzzy atmosphere as last minute preparations are made. The wedding planner is in his element and deals with everything with aplomb – mostly, and that is the charm of this lively character. Meeting Kate’s parents is a high point, they are so proud of this moment in their lives and that we can share it with them.
Guests gather and watch the comings and goings – until we are invited into the little restaurant to find our way to our tables. During the reception we are treated to several entertaining scenes with all the characters appearing, which is amazing. The play and dialogue are well written with cleverly structured wit and irony, peppered with funny spontaneous improvised moments. In between all of this excitement our meal is served very efficiently and the time flies.
The brilliant cast of Danielle Briers, Ben Hood, Rebecca Norris and David Tremaine play all the characters – flowing seamlessly one to the other and looking completely different after a quick change. Each character is in contrast to their first character and seeing how the actors play different people so well and what they bring to the story as a whole is a huge part of the creativity and fun. Comedic timing in a show like this is vital and these actors are experts. They create the right celebratory atmosphere with a twist or two, or three…but you will need to go to the show to discover their secrets, and there are a few!
