“a hilariously funny little show with a message at its heart”
From the very moment the show begins it’s easy to tell that this parody is not going to fall flat. It’s essentially a retelling of the classic Beauty and the Beast story but with almost every part being gender swapped. Not only does this allow for countless laughs, it also manages to make a number of points about feminism and traditional gender roles.
The company is small; with only five people to play many roles. Allie Munro performs the two main characters, which at one point are both onstage at the same conversing together. Aaron Dart plays a seemingly endless list of parts including the villagers, Mr Spout, Frank and the Mirror. The limitation in cast size does not compromise any of the humour as they all have such brilliant comic timing and delivery.
The cast are boosted from strength to strength by the cleverly written music (James Ringer-Beck), book (Robyn Grant) and lyrics (Robyn Grant & Daniel Elliot). ‘Have A Brunch’ is a particularly hilarious criticism of millennials’ phrases and obsessions. ‘Chevonne’ comes from the all too often unspoken fact that not all women are good; goodness has nothing to do with femininity. Their version of ‘Beauty and the Beast’ is one of the funniest moments in the entire show. Structurally the show works so well because every song is a carefully constructed parody by itself.
Another element that adds to the success of this piece is the way in which characters are created. All of the animated objects from the castle are played by normally dressed people holding items – for example, Mr Spout is just a teapot on a stick. The Villagers are woven sacks with googly eyes glued on them. It’s all just brilliantly funny when added in to the mix.
At its heart, the show is about highlighting the ridiculousness of gender norms and how we still don’t question them enough in today’s society. In the theatre I laughed from start to finish. Afterwards I sat realising how many subtle points they had made about stereotypes, and chuckled to myself at how funny some of those jokes were.
This is a hilariously funny little show with a message at its heart. It’s definitely not to be missed.
Reviewed by Katie Douglas
Photography by Nick Rutter
Beauty & The Beast
is at the King’s Head Theatre until 6th January 2018
Full Pelt Theatre present their new show, Wombmates, a fast paced, bizarre new ultrasound comedy about two brothers, Eric and David, from conception to birth.
The age old story of boy meets girl. Well boy meets boy – they’re brothers, in a womb. So more like sperm meets egg, becomes foetus and then a baby… or babies in this case, and one mother is in for a big surprise. All of that time in the womb gives these two little Geordies a chance to explore, discover and some questions to ponder. When their 9 months are up, is their really life after birth?
Using clowning, shadow puppetry and physical comedy, Full Pelt Theatre show pregnancy in a whole different light. With a lot of time together, full bellies from “womb” service, and the impending doom of birth, these two boys don’t quite know what is outside for them.
Full Pelt Theatre is a graduate company from East 15 Acting School, Winner of the BA Graduate Award 2016. They combine traditional and contemporary techniques to create and offer an exciting new brand of dynamic theatre with the aim of attracting new audience members. Their first show, The Going Away Days, written by Aaron Dart and directed by Aidan Napier, was selected for the Pulse Festival in Ipswich and the Plymouth Fringe Festival in May 2016. In November 2016 they had a sell-out run at The New Diorama Theatre as part of their Two-Night Stand scheme, supported by the Emerging Companies Fund.
