A camp-tastic show and a jolly good time.
Confetti is an (almost) one man show written by and starring Will Jackson as the outrageously camp events coordinator Felix. Before the show starts Will is on stage as Felix and you are ushered into his best friend’s Hen party and handed a goodie bag, complete with party hat, finger torch, and party popper. I was apprehensive. I am never usually a fan of audience interaction as it can so often be awkward and stilted and lead to uncomfortable silences where people are not sure what to do. However, this worked really well entirely down to sheer charismatic force of Will. I happily put on my party hat, signed a card for the bride to be, and was ready to have a good time.
I really liked this show. Far more than I expected and that is entirely down to the witty writing and comedic energy of Will Jackson. For this show to work, you have to immediately like Felix. We are not given much time to actually get to know him, which could be an issue for some performers, but Will was able to bring Felix to life as a real full fleshed out person and I wanted to be Felix’s friend immediately.
This show is camp. Very camp. It starts off with mash-ups of Lady Gaga songs as you walk in, and throughout there are numerous references to Eurovision. Some of the jokes are a bit “standard camp gags,” but in this setting it worked and was very much in keeping with the character of Felix.
This show is a rom-com. A classic rom-com. The plot is a little bit outlandish, the characters are eccentric, and it’s incredibly heartwarming and sweet. As a piece of theatre, it is not exactly groundbreaking and some of the jokes do not quite land, but I had such a good time. When one joke does not land, no worries, there are another 10 jokes in the next minute and 8 or 9 of those will.
The (I assume purposefully) bad David Attenborough impersonation was bizarre, and I loved it. It reminded me a bit of Mean Girls with the references to characters as animals, which just added to the camp fun of the show for me. Another moment that I really enjoyed were the non-comedic romantic moments with Felix and his new love interest Dan. Impressive when there is only 1 person on stage to make 2 characters feel like they have really great chemistry. The planetarium scene I thought was particularly sweet and could have been plucked directly from the pages of a teen romantic like a la Heartstopper.
One minor section that I did think was less effective was when Will attempted to play multiple characters in a scene at once. There was not quite enough differentiation between them to make it clear which character was speaking. This is a minor gripe in what was otherwise a very slick and well put together show.
This is a show about a gay man and his love life, and yet the gay part almost felt entirely secondary. It is not really mentioned. Felix is gay, he meets other people who are gay, and it’s all entirely normal. I really enjoy seeing a gay story that focuses far more on the story part of it and does not feel the need to bring gay to the forefront. This is a story about a gay man living his life, and it is an entirely normal and unremarkable thing, and I loved that.
I would absolutely recommend this show to anyone who is a fan of classic rom coms, camp shows, or just wants to have a laugh and a jolly good time.
Confetti ran at the Soho Theatre from the 13th-15th July and is touring other parts of the country in September and October.