JP [FringeTIX]
Theatre Group GUMBO @ Holden Street Theatres (The Studio)
7:00pm, Sun 1 Mar 2009
It should be obvious to regular readers (hahahahahaaaa – I crack me up) that I’m a fan of Theatre Group GUMBO – the boisterous productions that they brought to town in 2007 and 2008 keep me thoroughly entertained with bold visuals, a played-up culture gap, and enthusiastic Japlish.
JP is no different.
Initially introduced to a trio of GUMBO’s men, acting as Spirits in the Forest Of Truth, they are soon harangued by their Queen – find her a loving couple so she may extract their love from them and… ummm… stuff. When the lovers are introduced, He is portrayed as a narcissist, She as sex-mad (attempting to bump uglies with audience members). As they succumb to the powers of the Forest of Truth, She dons a nun’s habit, becoming a missionary of love; whereas He returns to birth, eventually devolving to become a sperm (!), trying to impregnate a member of the audience (!!) and eventually getting trapped in a testtube (!!?!OMGWTF).
So yes – this is everything I’d expect: loud, colourful, and utterly nutball.
Throughout, the cast of GUMBO are yelling their lines in glorious Japlish / Jenglish, and it really really appears as if they’re enjoying themselves… and enjoying making fun of themselves. And that’s great, because the crowd loved it too (except for the chap who thought it was going to be “serious” theatre) – and I’ll still be seeing GUMBO whenever they pop into town.