“Funny and clever for a few minutes, but all too soon like a bizarre adult Mr Bean sketch. Disappointing.”
Adam Scott-Rowley’s one man show ‘This is not Culturally Significant’ sold out at the Edinburgh Fringe last year and this performance as part of the Vault Festival 2017 was no different. It received a number of glowing five star reviews from the Fringe so expectations were high.
Out of Spite Theatre, Scott-Rowley’s company that produces the show claims it “strives to create confrontational, unsettling and high-intensity theatre” – well you could say they have definitely managed that with this show.
The USP of the show appears to be the performer’s nudity. There’s few props (a chair and a lamp), a lot of running around and Scott-Rowley flitting between an array of characters mostly from the more troubled side of society.
To his credit, he is an adept performer, the speed in which he goes between characters and the detailed manner in which he shows their personalities is to be admired.
Unfortunately, the fact that he is naked throughout sends mixed messages about this show. The nudity is apparently to enable the actor to be as expressive as possible and to not be shackled down when changing between characters. From the comments of nearby audience members, what Scott-Rowley has created was more akin to a hen party act, as they’d certainly not come along for the artistic merit of the show.
From what I’ve been told, the show hasn’t changed much since the Fringe (apart from a haircut). It’s difficult to see how it can progress and its probably a good idea that this show is quietly retired and Scott-Rowley focuses on his obvious talents and not trying to shock or be ‘original’.
Funny and clever for a few minutes, but all too soon like a bizarre adult Mr Bean sketch. Disappointing.
This is not Culturally Significant
is at The Vault Festival until 19th February
This Is Not Culturally Significant
February 15th – February 19th
VAULT Festival
Following a 5 star sell out run at the Edinburgh Fringe, intense and darkly comic one-man show This Is Not Culturally Significant is transferring to the VAULT Festival 2017.
This Is Not Culturally Significant unveils the bizarre, compulsive and eccentric nature of humanity. Over ten characters are portrayed; from a pathologically lying classics professor to a despondent American porn star on the brink of her retirement. This is a thunderous, high energy piece of theatre combining dark clown and deeply grotesque bouffon which holds up a mirror to the often unnoticed absurdities of human life – and contains full frontal male nudity throughout.
Out of Spite Theatre was founded by Adam Scott-Rowley in 2014 and strives to create confrontational, unsettling and high-intensity theatre. This Is Not Culturally Significant is the company’s first show, which aims to unmask the superficiality of our society’s expectations, desires and collective ego.
