A ridiculously bizarre, hilarious pun-packed journey and a unique theatre experience

Friday night at the cosy Camden’s Peoples Theatre was the perfect time and location for this absurd chip shop odyssey. The stage was an incredibly bare bar: a small white table with bell atop stage right; an even smaller white table stage left; and a large white freezer centre upstage.

Louis Turner and Madeline Hatt the writers and stars in this two-hander, begin as Chris and Chriss, twins who have spent almost a year in the freezer since the passing of their father. They force themselves to brave the outside world to find their father’s will and save the chip shop from the evil Fryers Union (the F.U.).

Hatt and Turner multi-role brilliantly throughout and each character we meet is more outrageous than the last. All are clearly defined with accents and props which are cleverly made from things you can find in any fish and chip shop. For instance, the scouse medium has the end of a mop for a wig and an empty jar of pickles for a mystic ball. The Friar from Fysh, another exaggerated caricature, has a purposefully ridiculous Scottish accent and orange cleaning cloths dangling down from his newspaper hat. Their prop and accent choices, alongside some incredibly expressive facial expressions, enabled Hatt and Turner to easily and entertainingly switch between roles.

The music within the show really served a purpose to the story and was a clear theatrical device. Turner and Hatt also displayed their musical talent playing multiple different instruments to a high level of skill throughout. On top of this, their singing was good and all in various accents for the different wacky characters they donned in this musical. The songs’ lyrics and entire script was written as a quite ludicrous children’s adventure but littered with witty puns and some inuendo. For instance, one of the main antagonists was called Charlie Bass or C. Bass (sea bass) and instead of C. Bass speaking, Turner would play a funky bass line. Almost every other line throughout the performance was a pun or quip and if you blinked you may have missed them. Some made me laugh, some made me groan, and some I didn’t even work out until half an hour later on the tube home. Either way, it was clear to me that it was a thoroughly thought through script.  

There is engagement with the audience throughout this piece, so if you would rather be a spectator I would advise not sitting on the front row, as I did. Several others and I in the first row were asked about ourselves and jested with by various characters. The gentleman beside me was given a kazoo to attempt a musical solo and I was flirted with offered to purchase lingerie by Turner. This interaction with the audience didn’t feel too forced or unnecessary, quite contrary, it gave us opportunity to interact and relate to each of these outlandish characters and settle into the space. It also showcased how quick on their feet and adaptable Hatt and Turner are.

In certain moments it felt as if I wasn’t at the theatre but instead had opened a door into Noel Fielding’s mind. Although, this story was incredibly absurd, it would not be too far a stretch to say this is a scenario that a child may imagine when dealing with the loss of a parent. That perhaps in reality there was a struggle to find a will or paperwork to maintain family ownership of the fish and chip shop. However, this could be traumatic for a child, so this crazy adventure and freezer metaphor was a way for Chris and Chriss to cope.

The whole production from start to finish was zany, comical and entertaining. There were a couple of lighting and technical mishaps but if anything, this merely added to the charm of the show which at times thrived from a created chaos. Hatt and Turner are definitely not just two chips off the old block, they were fantastic in their various roles and exceptional musically. A real whirlwind of an evening and I would really recommend getting tickets to see this creative musical, it really is the ‘plaice’ to be!