GISELLE: REMIX at the Pleasance Theatre

★★★★★

“a must-see – a piece of queer performance that is not to be missed”

Adolphe Adam’s romantic ballet Giselle tells the story of a young peasant girl who falls in love with the disguised duke, Albrecht. Driven mad by the revelation of his true identity, Giselle joins the deadly sisterhood of the Wilis, the ghosts of spurned women who seek revenge on their former lovers by dancing men to their deaths. GISELLE: REMIX – created by Jack Sears and Hannah Grennell and produced by Molly McGeachin at The Project People – reworks these universal themes of love and the loss of innocence through a queer perspective, reimagining Giselle (Sears) as a heartbroken queer individual who turns to the community’s sometimes overly sexual nightlife to satisfy their need for belonging.

Accompanied by a lively dance troupe (Harri Eiffert, Elle Fierce, Spike King and Marie Astrid Mence), Giselle explores her feelings of shame, assimilation and anger before eventually finding comfort in the camaraderie of the queer community, looking up to her elders and setting an example of queer joy and liberation for the next generation.

GISELLE: REMIX is a tour de force of lip sync, comedy, dance and cabaret. The choreography – a collaboration between Sears, Grennell and the troupe – is truly wonderful. The cast’s energy is incredible – the dancers writhe around the stage with outstanding finesse and Sears provides a powerful focal point. A particular highlight is a highly erotic dance to Anal Sex by Only Fire – the cast move seamlessly together, using their few bodies to successfully create the feeling of a packed, sweaty club. The production is accompanied by a brilliant soundtrack of queer icons and hyperpop bangers from Natalie Cole to the late SOPHIE.

The show features some wonderfully playful sound design (Rhys Cook AKA Oberon White) – most memorable being a hilarious mashup between sounds from male gay porn and famous declarations of love from television and film. The lighting (Lucy Adams) is masterfully atmospheric – it changes flawlessly between scenes and the mood on stage.

The set (Blythe Brett) is very plain – a round stage that has audience seated at its very edges for maximum engagement opportunities. There are no props and only rare appearances from a stool. Good use however is made of the stages various entrances and exits – the troupe regularly disappear and reappear from a staircase at the back of the stage as well as tumbling from the left, right and back for more dynamic entrances.

The costumes (Laura Rose Moran-Morris) are well conceived. The cast begin wearing soft pastels and tulle ballerina skirts before casting these off in favour of leather and fetish wear. Their movements also change significantly throughout the show – what was once smooth is now erratic; Giselle’s innocence from the opening scenes completely discarded. Sears puts on an especially amazing performance when dressed in a gimp suit, lip syncing aggressively to a rather frightening audio about various fetishes. Positioned on all fours, he bangs and grips the floor and fabric around him, violently ejecting a near-nonsensical stream of conscious.

My only criticism is that of the guest performer. Each show is to feature a guest performer – Kit Green, Jonny Woo, or Lavinia Co-op – depending on the date and the foremost present for press night. GISELLE: REMIX began with a lip sync from Green that was unfortunately wholly lacklustre.

Their choice of song was far too slow and though they injected some humour through breaking their lip sync and requesting the audience undress them, their asides were lost on anyone not in the very front row. Their performance was also quickly forgotten when the commanding stage presence of Sears and the captivating movement of the dance troupe took over. Green appeared again at the very end of the show – offering a comforting hand to Giselle-cum-Sears as they realised the power in standing united with your fellow marginalised people, but their particular presence added no real value. Hopefully, subsequent guests bring a matching vigour to the show.

GISELLE: REMIX is a must-see – a piece of queer performance that is not to be missed. It is exciting to think of what Sears, Grennell and The Project People may do next.

GISELLE: REMIX at the Pleasance Theatre

Reviewed on 12th April 2024

by Flora Doble

Photography by Ali Wright

Previously reviewed at this venue:

GWYNETH GOES SKIING | ★★★ | February 2024

CASTING THE RUNES | ★★★ | October 2023

DIANA: THE UNTOLD AND UNTRUE STORY | ★★★★ | November 2022

DIRTY CORSET | ★★½ | April 2022

SHE SEEKS OUT WOOL | ★★★★ | January 2022

DOG SHOW | ★★★★★ | December 2021

LIGHTS OUT | ★★★★ | October 2021

CATCHING COMETS | ★★★★ | September 2021

EXPRESS G&S | ★★★★ | June 2021

GINGER JOHNSON & PALS | ★★★★ | June 2021

GISELLE: REMIX

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★★★★

“a delightfully silly hour with real heart, and the most representative chicken-owning experience I have ever seen on stage”

The more time passes since the pandemic, the rarer you see the topic is raised on stage. Four years on, I was a bit hesitant to be reminded of lockdown induced madness in Making Friends, though to give Spencer Jones’ credit, this seems to have developed into a more permanent state thanks to a move to Devon.

The show is a stand up hour of musical comedy that reflects on Jones’ attempts to find connection, at first with his kids, then animals, then the other blokes in the village. It is structured around a number of tracks he produces live through clever looping and vocal effects. These lean heavily into surrealism, featuring an entertaining cast of potential friends (mostly puppets and false teeth) Jones has created in his garage. They stay on the right side of sectionable to be funny throughout.

Spencer plays the part of home-bound harried dad well, dressed in a red velvet dressing gown, socks and a rainbow sweatband. To dial up the ridiculousness, there’s a foam tube that becomes a shoulder pad, and a black plastic bag from an off licence has a brief but memorable role.

You’ll recognise Spencer Jones from recurring character roles on programmes like Upstart Crow, Ted Lasso, and The Mind of Herbert Clunkerdunk. He is great at adopting a slight change to expression, posture and accent to create a caricature of someone ordinary but instantly recognisable. I particularly enjoyed Jones’ portrayal of a number of west country locals and their dentistry. I can vouch for their accuracy: one of them could well be my Grandad Norman.

“There are a surplus of other ideas that feel played to their full potential in this versatile and high-energy hour.”

A number of props and puppetry devices are strewn messily over the small Soho Downstairs stage like we are walking into Jones’ garage. He bounces around between the mixing deck, cardboard portraits, a guitar, and papier mache masks and heads. On the whole these are enjoyably chaotic, but occasionally some of the interloper characters are too brief and deflate a couple of jokes; there’s a neon crocodile that went entirely over my head. An aside about soup also fell a little flat after audience interactions went left field and a section about Siri also felt underdeveloped. However, what I at first assumed to be an udder turned out to be something much funnier. In many ways I’m impressed with the commitment to what must have been hours with paper and glue for a single pay off.

The through line centres around the acquisition of a number of chickens, who very literally introduce Jones to the concept of pecking order. As a non-Londoner I have sad memories of childhood hens turning against me with painful consequences, and Spencer recreates this betrayal accurately.

There are a surplus of other ideas that feel played to their full potential in this versatile and high-energy hour. The guitar, like Chekhov’s gun, foreshadows a sad indie man finale that delivers on the underwhelming beta maleness at the heart of this show. It also really gets the spirit of my favourite housemate (my dad) during the pandemic.

At the end of the show, Jones announces another house move which feels like it is medically prescribed. It’s a timely reminder that Rightmove does not have all the answers, and that is frankly a public service. Ultimately, Making Friends is a delightfully silly hour with real heart, and the most representative chicken-owning experience I have ever seen on stage.

GISELLE: REMIX at the Pleasance Theatre

★★★★★

“a must-see – a piece of queer performance that is not to be missed”

GISELLE: REMIX at the Pleasance Theatre

Reviewed on 12th April 2024

by Flora Doble

Photography by Ali Wright

Previously reviewed at this venue:

GISELLE: REMIX

GISELLE: REMIX

SPENCER JONES: MAKING FRIENDS at the Soho Theatre

★★★★

“a delightfully silly hour with real heart, and the most representative chicken-owning experience I have ever seen on stage”

“There are a surplus of other ideas that feel played to their full potential in this versatile and high-energy hour.”

SPENCER JONES: MAKING FRIENDS at the Soho Theatre

Reviewed on 11th April 2024

by Rosie Thomas

Previously reviewed at this venue:

SPENCER JONES

SPENCER JONES