Three best friends travel from Yorkshire to space!
Suitable for ages 16+.
Pat Rascal: Space Gravy is an absolute treat to watch! It is packed with laughs from beginning to end, the jokes ranging from goofy to intelligent to outrageous. The three actors that make up Pat Rascal (Anisa Khorassani, Matt Blin, Rob Davidson) have impeccable chemistry and intuition, bouncing lines off each other with ease. They seem to genuinely enjoy involving the audience in their gags, our engagement with the show integral to maintaining its flow. While the story follows a narrative – three men, the bestest of friends since childhood, aspiring to travel from Yorkshire to the planet Mars – it is told via a series of witty sketches, bringing the audience on a journey through time (and space!).
Pat Rascal is described as “two-thirds Yorkshire-bred, one-third jealous”. Space Gravy honours Yorkshire – primarily by naming its central character (Khorassani) ‘Yorkshire’ – with several hilarious references, i.e. by representing their nationality not with the UK flag, but with the Yorkshire Tea logo! A lot of us in this country, including myself, grew up wheeze-laughing to the naughty British sketch shows that would appear on our telly every evening. This play provides us with that sense of nostalgia, really making us feel like a live studio audience at a legendary episode taping. It is quintessentially British, being audacious and self-deprecating, yet still patriotic.
Pat Rascal also uses props excellently, enhancing Space Gravy’s delightful absurdity. The play opens with Blin and Khorassani throwing grapes into each other’s mouths (while Davidson lip-syncs to narrations of Yorkshire’s excellent progress in the 2012 Olympics), and it closes with the three actors wrapped tightly together in an open cardboard box. We have pieces of A1 paper translating for the audience funny Spanish sentences into English (who knew Pat Rascal knew Spanish?), and, of course, Yorkshire puddings being passed around. Though the props “may or may not fit in the Camden People’s Theatre”, they certainly fit into this play!
Stories about friendship have always been my favourite! Though we tend to love the Big Confrontation Scenes, Space Gravy remains refreshingly positive. Though Yorkshire, Yorgos (Blin) and Jon (Davidson) move away from each other as kids, it is the county Yorkshire and their dreams of going to space that bring them back to each other. Seeing three hilarious friends achieve their dreams is just FUN. All of them are worth rooting for. There isn’t a weak link in this play; all three actors are at the top of their game, uplifting each other as well as themselves.
If you want a brilliant night out, go and watch Pat Rascal: Space Gravy! Kudos to all involved!