Alex Farrow Archives - The Real Chrisparkle

VOTE: The Musical, Paradise in Augustines.The history of women’s rights and universal suffrage has never been more relevant, with some governments even today looking at ways to deny women the vote. Phoebe Perry’s Vote The Musical takes the 1908 Hyde Park rally as its starting point and explores the lives of some fictional women (and men) to help understand their fight, society’s resistance against them, and their eventual success. Never shying away from the brutality of the police and prison officers, or indeed of the average man-on-the-street, it’s a bold attempt to celebrate resistance, and thank those women who laid their security and indeed their lives on the line for the benefit of generations to come.

The musical itself is a little uneven, with some songs much stronger than others; to be fair, that also applies to the performances, some of which are superb, and others a little weak. I wish that the central narrative had been less abstract and more informative about the history of the suffragettes; and the side story about infidelity obscures more than illuminates their struggle. It’s also a shame that the song given to illustrate men’s attitudes to the women’s struggles is so unimaginative lyrically, in comparison with the eloquence of some of the women’s songs. However, some scenes truly stick out – the Holloway prison scene and the celebratory finale scene for example, and the group harmonies are always sensational. An ambitious project to have 15 cast members on a relatively small stage as well as the keyboard player! With stand-out performances from Daisy Bayer, Lexi Lott and Thomas Drage, overall, this is an emotional and fascinating story that could be developed into a larger, tighter show – but is still well worth seeing as it is. 4 stars.

Anyone For Tennis – Pauline Eyre, Hoots @ The Apex.Do you have the Tennis Bug? Pauline Eyre doesn’t, because a “bug” doesn’t come close to what she has – it’s a full-scale infection. Ex-professional line judge Pauline introduces us to the unknown backstories within the world of tennis and Wimbledon: a few secrets about players, why certain rules are in place, and how you can subvert your otherwise straight-laced day as a line judge and get away with it. As an expert in her field, her insights are second-to-none, and this is a smartly-structured, deftly-written show that not only reveals her true passion for the sport but also questions to what extent tech can replace people in sport overall. Very funny and constantly surprising! 4 stars.

Down to the Felt, Greenside @ George Street.At some unspecified time and place in the future, a totalitarian regime has made homosexuality illegal, and the penalties, even for being complicit or enabling homosexual relationships, are severe: you can expect to disappear. Defence lawyer Ailith is married to teacher Ethan, but only to mask his relationship with Gabriel, who occupies the spare room in their flat. Can this status quo continue, as the policing of the crime intensifies, and without being able to express their love openly, is it genuinely worth it? A fascinating and terrifying play given excellent performances by Lizzie Kilbride, Sam Bain and Jude Burrows, it powerfully emphasises their claustrophobic and paranoid lives and the wait for that inevitable knock on the door. At a time when human rights are in danger and when politicians talk of abandoning the ECHR, this devastating play shows how easy it can be for our hard-won rights to be obliterated. 4 stars.

Why Won’t They Eat the Cake? The Space on The Mile.It’s Audrey’s 18th birthday and her father has ordered her a lovely celebratory cake. Next day, she and best friend Elle sift through the memories of the night before – such as they are – and they discover that no one ate the cake. What a waste! Keturah Peirson and Evelina Rudasa’s audacious play – and production – shows a friendship stretched to its limits, with the two characters sometimes aggressively at each other’s throats, and sometimes being adoring and supportive. It paints a rather bleak portrait of the protagonists and denies the audience a true resolution to their issues. Very experimental! The monologues are especially well delivered, but it’s an unsettling and deliberately emotionally cold play. 3 stars.

The Detective’s Demise, Just the Tonic at the Caves.It’s Ace Detective Ben’s birthday, and he’s arranging a small gathering for his nearest and dearest to celebrate. Top of his game, he’s going to retire at the youthful age of 25. However, Ben has already nominated who is going to take over his mantel as top detective – Arthur Evans. Unfortunately, just as they’re going to cut the cake, a gun goes off and the blood-spattered Ben caves over as dead as a doornail. But which of his alleged “friends” and “relatives” murdered him, and why? Evans then unexpectedly turns up and has to solve the crime – but is he even really a detective? Grown Up Playhouse’s Detective’s Demise sets this comedy mystery as a musical, with some entertaining patter songs and larger-than-life characters. Slickly and amusingly done, and with some very good singing, it was a shame that technical problems caused a lot of microphone rumblings and feedback, but the cast were super troupers and carried on regardless. 3 stars.

Alex Farrow: New Order, Laughing Horse @ Kick Ass Cowgate. You can take the man out of philosophy but can you take philosophy out of the man? I dunno, I’m not a philosopher. But Alex Farrow is, and his New Order: Sex, Power and the Philosopher’s Hoover is an entertaining look at what concerns him as he reaches his early 30s (ahem), such as making enough money to get by, discovering how to dress like an Italian Daddy (oops, I think I do), and what he rather alarmingly has in common with Vladimir Putin. He’s also become entranced with DIY, an interest designed to help one’s mental health that will probably injure it, and he has a unique need to feature a broken vacuum cleaner in his show. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know your Heidegger from your Hi-de-Hi, Alex Farrow cuts an extremely engaging persona on stage, and his show is an intriguing and intelligent potpourri of comical ideas and observations, delivered with authority and charisma; and it’s also extremely funny! 4 stars.

Drinking With Grandma, Greenside @ George Street.Nearly every family has that one big towering influence who manipulates thought and behaviour in everyone else; and for Anthony Maranville that was his Grandma. Full of seemingly wise words, ridiculous self-contradictions, and a deliberate blend of telling the truth and spinning a more interesting yarn, it wasn’t until she died and Anthony could get his hands on her “book of secrets” that he could start telling what was genuine and what was not. Drinking with Grandma is a journey through his memory of his childhood upbringing with Grandma ruling the roost, right up to her interactions with his own wife and children. Anthony is an eloquent storyteller, recreating his eulogy at her somewhat bizarre funeral, conjuring up a picture of a larger-than-life, mischievous, but loving matriarch. Relatable and entertaining. 3 stars.

It’s back for another big dollop of laughter at the Charles Bradlaugh, courtesy of those nice people at the Comedy Crate. It’s always exciting when all the acts are new to us, because the evening becomes a smorgasbord of unexpected delights. Our host for the evening was Alex Farrow, a smart super-confident chap who quickly gains a terrific rapport with the audience, and quickly elicited the fact that we were all rich beyond the dreams of avarice – well, it may have seemed that way at least.But there can’t be that many people who have access to two yachts! Very quick witted, he bounced off all the comedy nuggets that the audience gave him, and kept the show moving at an enjoyably fast pace. I made a note in my brain that we must catch his full solo show one day.

First up was Steve Hall, whose material is firmly based on his family life with his no-nonsense wife and two delightful children, who have discovered the art of homemade tattoos.There are lots of very recognisable family-based comic observations, many of which are illustrated with pictures including life from his own childhood as well as his own kids. If this sounds a little cosy, it’s peppered with many surprisingly sharp moments and there’s lots of big laugh-out-loud punchlines. An excellent start to the evening.

Next came Kathryn Mather who has wisely moved on from being a children’s entertainer. She has a nicely awkward stage persona and an excellent use of self-deprecation, talking about her lack of success with men and some entertaining stories about trying to attract the opposite sex. We hear about her (slightly predictable) encounter with the Dreamboys, and the perils of speed dating. From the sound of the laughter there was lots for women to recognise, if not quite so much for the guys. But she went down very well with the audience.

Our headliner act, and someone whose career we will definitely follow with interest, was Sarah Keyworth, a naturally funny comedian who mines comedy gold from her appearance and sexuality in an effortlessly hilarious way. She delivered not only the best pronouns gag out there, but also the best definition of non-binary, which had us all in hysterics. She has a marvellous running thread about being in a lesbian foursome, including the obligations one would feel about being the perfect host whilst entertaining three other women, and a brilliant sequence about inviting a male stripper to a hen party in a caravan in Devon. She completely blew us away with her superb audience interaction – occasionally checking in with second-row John to make sure it was going ok – and pinpoint perfect material. Another excellent night of comedy.