It’s going to be hard to describe what an
utter joy it was to watch this show but I’ll give it my best shot.
The raison d’etre behind the Onomatopoeia
Society is to promote onomatopoeia and to think up onomatopoeic
words for those which don’t normally have them.
This means that the script is liberally peppered with
‘blahs blahs’, ‘ring rings’, ‘slurrpaahs’ and various
other strange noises. In
addition to the day to day running of the society, chairman Spiral
Manley has a plan to set up ‘THE VEGETARIAN AMPUTATION PROJECT’
in which ‘baahs’ are anaesthetised, have their limbs amputated
and are then fitted with prosthetics, all in order to provide guilt
free meat to vegetarians. If
it all sounds a bit silly then I can ensure you that it is, and
wonderfully so.
The various capers on stage amused the
children no end, with the small boy sat next to me almost falling
out of his seat with unrestrained glee.
Thankfully the laughs aren’t limited to the kids in the
audience. The character
of Spiral Manley and alliterative representative Bad Billy, played
by ‘grown up’ comedians Glenn Wool and Carey Marx, ensured that
the adults could also share in their offspring’s amusement.
Wool in particular delivered an excellent performance as his
laid-back drawl contrasted perfectly with the childish clowning that
surrounded him.
Throughout the show there ran a very clever
seam of self-awareness with various allusions to staple theatrical
conventions. This
played in well with the surreal atmosphere of the performance and
simply added to the laughs. What’s
also impressive is the fact that the cast are actually performing in
two productions running simultaneously, disappearing from one in
order to appear in the other (the other being the Spinistery of
Moonerism). It’s a
bizarre concept that seems perfectly in keeping with the weirdness
going on in front of you.
This is not only one of the most enjoyable
children’s shows I’ve seen, but one of the most enjoyable shows
I’ve seen on the Fringe as a whole.
I urge you to go see it – with kids or without.
*****
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