An absurdly stunning piece of physical comedy
This week, the DippyEgg Theatre company makes its debut with their show Unlikely: In a Building with a Broken Lift, starring their two co-founders, Emma Wallace and Lucy Mynard.
Downstairs at the Baron’s Court Theatre lies this grisly comedy about two roommates, their cat, and a storm. Unlikely notably lacks much dialogue from the two main characters, resulting in a piece full of physical comedy that reminisces of Charlie Chaplain in its goofiness and exaggerated approach. On the whole, this is done very successfully. Upon realising there was not going to be much dialogue, I worried how easy following the narrative would be. The logic of the narrative does occasionally suffer, but it is clear that logic is not really the point of this play. It exists as a series of jaded vignettes depicting an array of modern characters and an observation of our media consumption. The result is an overall expression of the founders of DippyEgg Theatre and makes for some promising material.
Unlikely has the structure of a cabaret, with a variety of different styles of performance, including live singing, mime, and drag-esque acts. One of the highlights of the show came with Emma Wallace’s excellent lip sync to Queen’s 1984 classic ‘I want to break free’. It began with some excellent mime work, and Wallace proceeded to hit every beat of the song, embodying it fully, making excellent use of the space. This performance well reflected the overall tightness of the show, which much of its physical comedy really depends on. Wallace and Mynard are clearly professionals, even if their show is injected full of slapstick silliness and good humour.
The narration in a dracula style voice was a fun touch, although sometimes the sound could do with a little less reverb, particularly in that space particularly prone to strong echoes. It was sometimes hard to understand what was being said, and some more clarity here would have helped with the narrative. There’s a great moment where they go backstage to berate him, a clever way to submerge us further in this play within a play. I would be interested to see what this narrator could be like if he was played by an onstage actor, perhaps engaged with the audience.
The space itself is naturally quite gothic, with thick pillars and black walls, so the set was already prompted for this atmosphere. Some details were nice, like the use of chalk on the walls to create a noir aesthetic, and there is a hilarious moment with Mynard and the drawn on window. Some of the set felt a little inconsistent, and maybe a little heavy handed with its theme. Particularly the contemporary sofa and the use of fake body parts on stage. It made the design a little jagged, and even just throwing on a fitting blanket or dust sheet over the sofa would have helped tie things together some more.
Overall, this is a great first outing for the company. It displays some real originality and strangeness that will hopefully come to brand them and their future productions. Watching the minds Wallace and Mynard play out on stage was a tickling experience, full of promise with what’s to come next.
Unlikely: In a Building with a Broken Lift plays at the Baron’s Court Theatre until March 21st.