Tag Archives: Charlotte Brooke

Flat & the Curves

Flat & The Curves

★★★★★

Toulouse Lautrec

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Flat & the Curves

Flat & The Curves

Toulouse Lautrec

Reviewed – 8th July 2022

★★★★★

 

“Even IKEA is not safe from these satirical sirens”

 

Flat and the Curves are an enterprising quartet of entertainers who will remind you of the iconic Fascinating Aïda. Flat and the Curves have powerful voices, with lots of range, and can belt out a tune in anything from opera to ABBA. They bring both an old-fashioned glamour, plus a more modern Gen Z vibe to the cabaret stage. But there the comparison ends. Where Fascinating Aïda was the kind of girl group you could take your granny to, Flat and the Curves? Maybe not. Then again, grannies these days know how to get their groove on, so perhaps you should gather up your favourite grans and take them to see Flat and the Curves for a raunchily good, girls night out. “Family” fun this group is not. Flat and the Curves are an anarchic group of singer/comediennes calling out the habits of cis/het men and dumping them, metaphorically speaking, in the trash. And it’s about time.

This talented group is Arabella Rodrigo, Charlotte Brooke, Katy Baker and Issy Wroe Wright. If the names seem familiar, that’s because these performers already have impressive musical comedy resumés. And it’s a genius move to put them together as Flat and the Curves. The songs in this pre-Edinburgh Festival show range from memories of meeting a female soulmate in the loo (as you do), to not so soulful memories of “being taken up the Shard” on one’s anniversary. Don’t make me go there. There is a song with a 90s vibe about menstruation — a “period” piece according to Arabella— and again, don’t make me go there. There are lots of songs about sex, not surprisingly, including a clever riff using Glenn Miller’s Chattanooga Choo Choo to sing about hen dos. There are songs about dating apps. “You’re the App of My Eye.” “Get Me Some Romance” is a heartfelt torch song begging men to be gentlemen. It almost tops the brilliantly operatic rendition of an earlier song about porn, entitled, and I kid you not, “When A Woman Comes First”. Most of the songs in this show are about living in a world with men and their less endearing habits. Flat and the Curves call them out soundly. Think these ladies won’t go there? Think again. Even IKEA is not safe from these satirical sirens.

In short, Flat and the Curves are all about presenting a hugely entertaining evening. But they’re also educational. No really. I learned a lot. And I’m sure the men in the audience did, too. Even in a super warm cabaret space with noisy fans that did nothing to lower the temperature, the audience still jumped to its feet and applauded loudly at the end of the show. I confidently predict that Edinburgh will welcome Flat and the Curves just as enthusiastically.

 

Reviewed by Dominica Plummer

Photography by Karla Gowlett

 


Flat & The Curves

The show is at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe from 16th to 28th August

 

Did you see these shows we reviewed in June?:

Cancelling Socrates | ★★★★ | Jermyn Street Theatre | June 2022
Evelyn | ★★★ | Southwark Playhouse | June 2022
Favour | ★★★★ | Bush Theatre | June 2022
Hen | ★★★ | Hope Theatre | June 2022
Machine de Cirque | ★★★★★ | Peacock Theatre | June 2022
Mad House | ★★★★★ | Ambassadors Theatre | June 2022
Serse | ★★★★ | Opera Holland Park | June 2022
Starcrossed | ★★★★ | Wilton’s Music Hall | June 2022
The Fellowship | ★★★ | Hampstead Theatre | June 2022
Unfortunate: The Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch | ★★★★ | Underbelly Festival | June 2022

 

Click here to see our most recent reviews

 

A Pissemas Carol

A Pissedmas Carol

★★★★★

Leicester Square Theatre

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A Pissemas Carol

A Pissedmas Carol

Leicester Square Theatre

Reviewed – 10th December 2021

★★★★★

 

“one of the funniest experiences you can have a theatre”

 

It’s written into law that, like Hamlet or The Importance of Being Earnest throughout the year, there must be at least 12 productions of A Christmas Carol running when the festive seasons rolls around. Without a doubt, A Pissedmas Carol tops the list.

Produced by Sh!tfaced Showtime (who also do Sh!tfaced Shakespeare), the show is a perfectly ordinary telling of the Charles Dickens classic save for one simple-but-genius twist: one of the cast of five gets stupendously drunk before the show and continues drinking throughout. It’s something that could easily go horribly wrong, but this team pulls it off with total brilliance.

In this performance, James Murfitt was the unfortunate actor who had to knock back some beers and most of a bottle of Tanqueray gin before the show even began, which was followed by more beers and even some Gaviscon during the play. In many ways, Murfitt seemed like the best choice from the audience’s perspective since they were playing Scrooge.

It’s only natural that the inebriated actor will want to go off-script, and the rest of the cast (Katy Baker, John Mitton, Issy Wroe Wright, Hal Hillman, Will Seaward, Daniel Quirke, Charlotte Brooke and Nick House in rotation across performances) do a stellar job of going along with it without derailing the plot too much. However, when that actor is playing the lead character who has a lot of control over the plot, it leads to a lot of derailing that ends up being exceptionally hilarious. In this version, Scrooge becomes a queer icon, drops the c-word like it’s going out of style, and completely rewrites the ending by murdering Bob Cratchitt. Seeing the gleam in the actors’ eyes as they magnificently mutilate the source material is superb, and they keep the audience in the palm of their hands throughout, in the most sidesplitting ways.

The audience get to be involved in the action too, with members bestowed with horns and crackers by the bellowing narrator that can keep the drinks flowing when used, and charades suggestions being played out on stage.

Thanks to Katy Baker’s slick direction and actors’ exquisite interplay and improv skills, A Pissedmas Carol is one of the funniest experiences you can have a theatre, and one of the best presents you can give yourself this Christmas.

 

Reviewed by Ethan Doyle

Photography by Rah Petherbridge

 


A Pissedmas Carol

Leicester Square Theatre until 15th January

 

Previously reviewed at this venue this year:
Sh!t-Faced Macbeth | ★★★★★ | July 2021

 

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