Last Year Pig Island (Claudia O’Doherty, Nick Coyle and Charlie Garber) brought us the excellent Golden Gibbo award-winning The Glass Boat and this year’s Simply Fancy builds on that solid foundation. The show is a wild acid trip through storytelling, using the time-worn fairytale framework, without ever openly acknowledging this precedent (a wise move). Bryan (Charlie Garber) is the father of two children Julie (Claudia O’Doherty) and Roy (Nick Coyle) all of whom endeavour to go on a quest to bring back three fruits as a gift for their Grandmother’s birthday.The show draws heavily on bizarre characters, witty wordplay and sheer absurdity. The performers seem at home in this world and the viewing audience must be too, if they are to enjoy this odd confection. Simply Fancy works best when the story is moving along at a good pace, but often falls apart critically in the staging and blocking which is at times clumsy and forced, and the performers have to be wary not to stretch their lines or over-emphasise the humour as this sometimes tries the audience’s patience.
That Pig Island gets away with this at all is a credit to their enthusiasm and originality; however Simply Fancy doesn’t have the raw verve of The Glass Boat. This is due in part to the attempt by Pig Island to rely on a narrative. Whereas The Glass Boat could be viewed as a series of sketches (or perhaps a very loose narrative), Simply Fancy bases its entire conceit on the framework of fairytale storytelling. Storytelling brings with it certain expectations, and the group struggles to fulfil these expectations satisfactorily. A little bit more care in the development of the story, would have made for a more satisfying evening. It is also telling that there is no director’s name credited on the program, as all of this is something that a good director would easily correct.
This is not to say that Simply Fancy isn’t funny, it is very funny, but as a work of theatre it could be so much more. And as performers this is what Pig Island needs to learn. They have the talent and the ability, but what they need now is the precision that comes with being professional performers. Without this they will always be a fringe act, and this would be a great loss because as comedians and performers they could be so much more.
Simply Fancy is the latest show from the comedy group Pig Island.
Vanilla Productions
Simply Fancy
by Pig Island
Venue: Trades Hall | 2 Lygon Street, Carlton Sth
Dates: 19th Mar - 13th Apr
Times: Tue - Sun 9.30pm
Duration: 60 minutes
Prices: Full $22, Conc $18
Bookings: Ticketmaster 1300 660 013 | 9659 3569 & at the door