Sydney Reviews

Photo - Jason Woodruff © 2005

Confession time. How many of you spent your childhood destroying your parents’ living room while acting out the epic final battle scene between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader in Return of The Jedi? And that’s even after your mum refused to buy you a lightsaber.

Seems like Canadian actor Charles Ross did. Having watched the trilogy over four hundred times no wonder he can recite the entire thing almost word for word. Only the original three movies are used here, so we are spared reminders of Jar Jar Binks or Natalie Portman’s attempt to impersonate an actress.

If you require a plot summary of the Star Wars Trilogy then this show is definitely not for you. Casual fans, who have only seen the trilogy five or six times, will have no trouble following proceedings. This is largely due to Ross’ excellent mimicking of music and sound effects. An interesting comment on how much the original movies relied on sound. The quality of Ross’ voices vary, his Luke Skywalker is near perfect while his Yoda is not quite high enough.

Ross is not afraid to laugh at his mistakes commenting on how he accidentally spits on the poor guys in the front row or showing surprise that Yoda has suddenly grown two foot taller. He also exaggerates flaws in the film. The fact that Luke’s twin sister turns out to be Leia isn’t that surprising. She is the only woman in the film. There are pauses between movies to engage in the usual stand up comedian’s banter, picking on audience members for texting meaningless messages or ducking out to the loo mid show.

Watching this sharp, fun show is like returning to your childhood, when develop a bad Yoda voice you did.


One-Man Star Wars
Charles Ross

Venue: Metro Theatre, Sydney
Dates: Tues April 29 – Sat May 3
Further information: www.onemanstarwars.com