Monday 20 August 2012

The Space Race - Wednesday 15th August 2012

Despite being a little disappointed by their alternative show " The Midnight Movie" we were back for their latest comedy play. Upon arrival we are met by the unexpected sight of them Morris dancing, with occasional help from audience members.

This introduces us to the quaint village of Lower Birchley which we later discover houses a secret military base where they plan to launch a rocket and beat the Americans and Russians to land on the moon. Oh, did I mention we were back in the 1960's? Naturally, all does not go well and in the best traditions of science fiction movies there are evil aliens determined to take over the world.

This is the style of comedy the Beta Males excel at. Silly situations, silly characters and silly audience interplay. They are clearly following the gap left (hopefully only temporarily by the Penny Dreadfuls) in the comedy play genre. (Though they had better watch out as Sad Faces have shown a change of style this year and are close on their heels).

As usual the performances are impeccable ( Guy Kelly excels with his facial contortions and Richard Soames does some real acting) and they rapport well with an adoring audience. The plot could be tighter and some jokes are predictable but there are few shows on the fringe as funny as this.

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