Half-naked penguin smashing up literary canons
In an age where literary canons feel worlds away from our exhausted daily lives saturated with over-exploding social media, when was the last time you picked up one of those classic Penguin tri-band paperbacks — Wilde, Brontë, or Homer? If your school days were the last time you had the bandwidth, don’t worry. Garry Starr has them all covered for you, smashed up altogether in his 70-minute comedy show Classic Penguins. Backdropped by a stylish jagged iceberg with a screen, Starr sits in an antique plush swivel chair, back to the audience. Stage right holds a large wooden box packed with props. On stage left, there’s a bookshelf packed with iconic Penguin Classics books, topped by a globe, a lamp and a skull.
When the show begins, Starr slowly swivels around to face us, turns in his swivel chair to face the audience, showcasing his tobacco pipe, his E.M. Forster style moustache, his penguin flippers as well as his half naked body in tuxedo – mimicking the black feathers of a penguin! Through clowning, gags, stilt walking and improvisation, Starr leads us to walk through the western literary canons – Moby Dick, Wuthering Heights, The Grapes of Wrath, Around the World in Eighty Days, and even The Communist Manifesto! No spoilers here as I won’t ruin the sole fun, but let’s just say he manages to both awe and delight in constantly unexpected ways. The surprises aren’t just in how he illustrates each classic, but also in how he correlates these canons through his unique sense of humour.
In the meantime, Classic Penguins isn’t just about literature. Like many of the main stage shows here at Soho Theatre, Classic Penguins also navigates to find its own way of audience interaction. Unlike many of the others I watched recently that endeavour to give some takeaways or underserving messages to the audience (sometimes they can be overtly forcible yet shallow), Classic Penguins has only one goal: to have fun. (Un)fortunately pulled onstage, I acted as a fictional character with Starr. Some others fought against him with edible props, or they lifted him from the first role of stage all the way up, or being naked together with him… If you are fed up with being preached at in theatre, I can guarantee this: Garry Starr will offer you none of that.
By the end, fully soaked in his sweat from a ridiculously physically-demanding show like Classic Penguins, Starr leads a dancing ensemble all half naked as a penguin. For those who once soaked themselves in the pages of literary canons, this might be the night that rekindles your long-lost love. For those who haven’t, that’s perfectly fine, because you’ll still have just as much fun. And maybe, just maybe, Classic Penguins will serve as your first chaotic yet joyful guide as the ultimate “Garry’s guide to literature”.