I see up to six shows a week and while it’s rare to find a dud on the Sydney theatre scene, it’s just as rare to have an experience that is so odd and wonderful that I almost don’t want to share. BACON AND EGGS, the late show at the Old Fitz Theatre, is this moment for me. I am going back on Tuesday and taking cronies. I may even go back on Wednesday. Actually it finishes on Saturday so I might just go again later in the week. Care to join me?
Simple. It’s simple. It’s very, very simple. Just a simple piece of theatre. Take two hung over Aussie actors in Dublin. Plonk them on a scary street. Add a misdemeanour that they think will get them a nice warm police cell. Insinuate an iconic dead artist (Francis Bacon) and a soupçon of witty queen humour and a hilarious night is now preordained … if you get it…
‘Cause it is bloody clever! If you know your theatre history. The theatrical bon mots and references come thick and fast with barely enough time to digest. When he slagged off all the gay Russians wrestling bears, I could barely contain my guffawing but when he reviled Ibsen and all the door slamming, I swear it physically hurt! Some of the gags are thigh slappers and some are slow burn. “Door slamming”!!!
After hitting the Greeks hard and hurtling through the Irish, the script has a go at most dead white playwrights in the English tradition. Mind you, Patrick White does get a mention. But when the talk turns to Shakespeare, things get a bit serious. And in that brief couple of minutes, one considers… well everything theatrical. The good, bad, profound, perfunctory, powerful and pissweak of this odd black walled world. But only for few minutes, and then it’s back to the funny bits.
The actors are excellent and easily make that quick spin from comic to reflective and back again. As the two poorly reviewed, down of their luck, dreams crushed actor/ directors Russ (Tom Dent) and Gil (Ryan Jones) are more than capable of holding their own against a not quite bitchy Adrian Mulraney. They are not quite dopey and not quite up themselves respectively anyway. The trio own the bare stage and the savvy direction from playwright Chris Edmund keeps the laughs coming for the 40 minutes.
I suppose if it was just funny, I might not have had the weird reaction to it that I did. Maybe it was just one of those nights when I needed a comic restart to examine why it is we do what we do. It was definitely more hilarious than hard-hitting … but I’m a bit perplexed about …. lots of stuff I suppose.
So … see you Tuesday boys.
BACON AND EGGS is the late night show at the Old Fitz and is playing until Saturday 10th October. Performance time- Tuesday to Saturday at 9.30pm. Sunday it’s a 7.30pm start. All tickets are only $22. For bookings http://www.oldfitztheatre.com/eggs-and-bacon.
CAST:-
Ryan Jones, Tom Dent and Adrian Mulraney
CREATIVES:-
Writer/Director- Chris Edmund, Design- Izumi Pennicott