[2012097] We Love You! (as much as everybody else does)
GhostBoy @ La Bohème
9:00pm, Wed 7 Mar 2012
A good Fringe Buddy (and La Bohème regular) had raved to me about GhostBoy, describing a packed room that had convulsed with laughter from the antics of GhostBoy’s absurd poetry and vocal meanderings. I had bought a ticket soon thereafter; that sounded right up my alley.
But when I arrived at La Bohème this Wednesday evening, the room was far from packed. I was only the fourth punter in the room; as usual, I checked at the door: four pre-sales.
Shit.
The couple sitting at one table looked uncomfortable with the small crowd, but were content chatting amongst themselves whilst warily eyeing the empty room; I recognised the other person and chatted, only to discover that she was reviewing for GlamAdelaide. And that causes me to mentally knock another ticket off GhostBoy’s door sales, making me a little bit sadder.
GhostBoy takes to the stage, replete with sunglasses and fedora and scruffy black clothes, and starts growling through his dark, intense poetry. His delivery has a hint of menace, and I was finding it difficult to see whether he was aiming for black humour, or whether these were the musings of an unhinged mind. But then he’s joined onstage by the bearded Sir Lady Grantham (resplendent in his/her brightly coloured sneakers) who provided mute accompaniment on piano, accordion, and bone-shaped flute, and they break the poetry and ad libbery up with a few grubby cabaret covers.
The friction between the two characters is palpable: GhostBoy explains that they have just broken up, and much of his interstitial banter is occupied by increasingly detailed threats on how he plans to kill Grantham at the end of the show… but these words only evoke disdainful indifference from the mute instrumentalist.
And then came the audience participation part of the show… and they required a male, of which there were two of us in the tiny crowd. GhostBoy first tries to drag the chap from the other table up on stage, but he shakes off the request – at first with a gentle grimace, but then with a grumpy snarl – so it’s left to me to keep the show rolling. I’m dressed in a nappy (comfy!), then perched on a tiny wooden stool whilst GhostBoy dances around, serenading me with a raucous version of Gay Bar (while Sir Lady Grantham gave me a supportive smile and a wink).
We Love You! was an… interesting experience. I really wish I’d seen it with a crowd that was both bigger and more inclined to get involved; I think that would’ve added mightily to the experience. But I’m always interested in seeing the darkness that can exist in some people’s minds, and GhostBoy most certainly does have a knack for arranging words in a comically brooding manner… I reckon I’ll be pencilling in another visit to his realm when he returns, but on a night that is more likely to be heavily populated.