Theatre / black comedy
Review: Fat Man, Brewery Theatre
The legend goes that the music Orpheus brought forth from his lyre was so captivating that all living things – even the stones upon the ground – stopped to listen. And, in Move to Stand’s black comedy, performer Martin Bonger brings some of that same magnetism to his mesmeric performance. Bonger recasts the legendary Ancient Greek poet-musician as a pot-bellied, washed-up performer, obliterating his grief for his beloved Eurydice in drink, doughnuts and freewheeling stand-up comedy.
Bonger’s intense, kinetic 60-minute performance is framed as a stand-up set before an audience of Greek gods. Orpheus recounts – poetically, lyrically, and interspersed with some atmospheric snatches of music, all as you’d expect from the legendary poet and muso – his story with Eurydice. We learn of their meeting (on a crowded Oxford Street – this Orpheus tale is grounded firmly in the here and now); his awkward wooing of her; their happy courtship and life together; her death, and his doomed effort at bringing her back.
Bonger is constantly watchable, especially his hugely expressive face, in which black comedy and sadness seem evenly written – perfectly so, for this lovelorn poet now drowning his sorrows in mordant humour. His drawling American accent and big, theatrical mannerisms are also beautifully rendered.
In a performance that perfectly mixes the actor and the stand-up, Bonger gives us verbal and expressive fireworks, wit and emotion – knowing, for example, just when to slow the pace and drop his voice to a hushed, dramatic whisper. And he manages to create a genuine sense of unpredictability, of excited uncertainty about what’s coming next.
Much of the performance is played at a rare intensity of emotion – Orpheus’ life has been characterised, after all, by both extreme beauty and extreme sadness, and Bonger’s louche, larger-than-life, doughnut-mauling performance is perfectly pitched.
A tragicomic performance of rare intensity, emotion and offbeat charm. Go see.
Fat Man continues at the Brewery Theatre until Saturday, March 28. For more details and to book tickets, visit www.tobaccofactorytheatres.com/shows/detail/fat_man
Pics: Alex Brenner
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