“Comical, surreal and touching.”
If you’re a fan of the terminator franchise, a lover of self-deprecating humour, 90’s references or comedy then you’re in for a treat with this show.
Justine Malone’s one woman show takes us on a somewhat confusing journey that is a mix of sci-fi cheese, excellent visual comedy, some meme-worthy referencing to the 90’s and heartfelt story that shares some similarities to moments in the series ‘Spaced’ (For those old enough to know what I mean). While many may have ended up creating a fanfic with a piece like this, Justine managed to layer the story with cultural insight and hit on something we’re all guilty of, by thinking things were better or easier in the past.
The Old Fire Station has been fully stripped back for this piece, a black box with minimal props, through some very fun disco lighting when required, which it most certainly is for the excellently silly dance number we are given. I do feel this brings me to my only criticism of the show, which is the tech. I feel there was a lack of precision and slickness to the ques throughout the show, which unfortunately did leave the piece feeling a little slow in pace for me. There were delays between action and sound that stalled the show only for a few moments, but consistently so.
Justine’s menagerie of character’s kept me giggling throughout, and her delightfully awkward Windows ’95 powered Terminator made for an excellently awkward protagonist for this story vehicle. The method of telling was challenging at first to get into, though this may also be due to all the exposition and caching up everyone who either; a) Wasn’t around in the 90s or b) Has never seen the Terminator series. Once we’d gotten the setting, background and goal of the show secured in our minds, the mix of theatre of the mind, mime, multiple characters addressing each other as one person and use of projection flowed well together and kept the comedy fresh. I’m loath to say I enjoyed the appearance of Clippy (the old Microsoft Office help assistant that would never leave you alone) but it was a delightfully silly joke throughout.
Overall, this was a very fun piece to watch. With some improvement and sharpening up, it would vastly improve the pace and unite the comedy with the speed of the action it needs. It does well to capture the sense of ‘Golden Age Syndrome’ that seems to be going around currently while also being a love letter to action sci-fi of the 80’s and 90’s.