Pleasance Beyond

Matt Forde: Inside No. 10

26/08/23

Pleasance Courtyard (Pleasance Beyond), Edinburgh

Matt Forde has built his reputation on a canny combination of political commentary interspersed with impersonations of the people in power. He’s a seasoned, confident performer and, pretty much from the get go, Inside No. 10 has the sizeable audience at the Pleasance Beyond laughing it up. The over-riding message is that the country is being led by the biggest bunch of buffoons in history and our only hope is to giggle about it. No arguments there. I’ve always thought that Rishi Sunak would be a hard man to impersonate but Forde manages it with ease, highlighting his ability to sound inappropriately effusive, even when he’s delivering horrible news.

And it’s not just the Tories. There’s a brilliantly observed Keir Starmer in there too, austere and seemingly obsessed with tearfully mentioning his late father at every opportunity and, since we’re in Scotland, the recent woes of the SNP are duffed up too, even if Forde wisely keeps his Nicola Sturgeon down to a few one-liners.

Ironically, it’s when he steps outside of British politics that the show really takes flight. His impersonation of Donald Trump is, as ever, spot on, nailing the man’s petulance and his childlike habit of blaming everybody else for his misfortunes. It’s easily the funniest part of Inside No. 10, (especially after being handed the gift of that mugshot) but, unfortunately, it has the effect of making the remainder of the show feel slightly anticlimactic. The piece doesn’t conclude so much as peter out.

Perhaps a little restructuring would help, holding back Trump (if only such a thing were possible) and finishing the exercise on a high point. Or maybe having him as a guide, observing our political system from his jaundiced POV?

Mind you, it’s bit late in the day to be suggesting changes, when the Fringe has almost run its course; besides, if the object of the exercise is to make an audience laugh, Forde certainly succeeds in that respect, big time.

3.8 stars

Philip Caveney

Murder She Didn’t Write

06/08/17

Pleasance Beyond

Improv comedy seems to be in the ascendent and judging by the huge crowd that’s packed into the Pleasance Beyond to watch Murder She Didn’t Write, the form has now hit peak popularity. Here, Bristol Improv Theatre apply the concept to the classic country house murder, incorporating an Agatha Christie style setting with elements of Cluedo, so that all six actors are colour-coded – Miss Violet, Mrs Gold, etc – presumably to make it easier for us to follow the proceedings.

A resident sleuth invites members of the audience to supply some of the elements the cast must base their story around (today for example, a three-legged race figures quite prominently) and the six strong cast create their show around these suggestions.

It’s early in the run and there’s the distinct feeling that things haven’t quite bedded in yet. There are some sporadically amusing elements here but to be honest, the improvisations we’re given aren’t really on a par with some of the discipline’s best exponents and as the play moves fitfully towards it’s conclusion – the unmasking of the murderer – I can’t help feeling this needs to be a whole lot punchier than it currently is. And actually, once we, the audience, have made our initial suggestions, there really isn’t much else for us to do except sit back and watch. (It doesn’t help that one member of the cast keeps corpsing in response to things that don’t actually seem all that funny). At any rate, for this to work properly, it needs to make the audience feel a little more involved. As it stands, it delivers rather less than it promises.

Still, most members of the audience seem to enjoy it and leave with happy smiles on their faces. Maybe you should go and check it out for yourselves – after all, one person’s lead piping is the next person’s candelabra. 

3 stars

Philip Caveney

Citizen Puppet

CITIZEN PUPPET_Blind Summit_production image 5Mark Down with Howard Box-Grainger (Puppet)

12/08/15

Pleasance Beyond, Edinburgh

As the name suggests, Blind Summit’s production is indeed a puppet show – but set aside all preconceptions of Punch and Judy. These ‘extreme puppets’ are quite remarkable creations, with facial characteristics so lifelike you quickly start to think of them as actors – and they’re expertly voiced by a team of black-clad operators with hooded faces. Five performers manage to operate nine characters between them and what’s more the whole enterprise is backed up by a witty and inventive script.

The community of Massiveville is in turmoil. In the middle of the night, somebody has chopped down the giant beanstalk that used to stand in the town square and now the body of a massive giant is stretched out across the supermarket car park. But what has happened to the town’s number one citizen, Jack, the man who has been dispensing golden eggs to all and sundry? Could he have anything to do with this? And why is he nowhere to be found?

The story is presented in the way that a contemporary scandal might be aired now – complete with people getting selfies in front of the dead giant and the local police searching for clues to the identity of the perpetrator. We’re told that what we’re actually watching here is a piece of theatre devised around real events and directed by the twitchy, pill-popping loner. ‘Daz,’ the town’s resident weirdo and is essentially a series of monologues presented directly to the audience.

It’s a neat twist on the familiar fairy tale and the effect is only slightly marred by the fact that the venue is so hot – I really felt for the operators, sweating in their head-to-toe black Lycra. Parents thinking that this might be good bet to entertain very young children should be warned that with it’s serious themes and punchy script, Citizen Puppet is better suited to adult audiences.

4.2 stars

Philip Caveney