Eclectic, chaotic, fun and silly. The Dirty Thirty seems to exist in the space between a scratch night and an improv-athon – I’m tickled pink that it exists
Not your typical night of fringe theatre. Upon receiving an unexpected name sticker and a warm welcome, you can expect to take your seat and peruse the ‘menu’. Thirty numbered sheets are strung across the stage like a washing line, ready to be plucked and performed in a race against the clock. Degenerate Fox deliver on what they say they will: brand new writing, a large analogue timer in the corner which multi-talented performers compete against to share these 30 works in 60 minutes. They perform genuinely as themselves and bring high energy to each and every script. The whole night feels very rough and ready but brimming with fun and imagination.
Once the show begins, the games begin. There is a delightful level of optional audience participation; it’s easy to participate as much or as little as you like: shouting out the number of the next script, volunteering for an onstage task or simply enjoying the silliness and chaos around you. There was such a range of work put on in one fell swoop, from some thoughtful introspective pieces, to politically commentary to some bonkers snapshots or skits. There may be no through-line in theme, but the audience was never bored.
Naturally the structure and transitions between each piece was a little messy and sometimes disruptive to the flow. However, the team work really well together, supporting each other and stepping in to compere keeping the audience engaged as necessary. The enthusiasm and confident stage-presence of each cast member and the creativity of the whole team is ever-present.
The technical demands of the evening were well managed, with a little humour. Some unexpected funny moments created by the challenges of the impromptu nature of the show. Both intentional and unintentional games were played, between planned and unplanned audience participation, to performers hilariously acting as a physical indicator on stage when the technician couldn’t see the mouse on the wall projection.
The aforementioned natural messiness is part of the charm and fun of the evening. The chaos is inevitable when performing such a mix of pieces that could be in any order with varying aspects of tech involved. They even replace scripts each show depending on the number rolled on a large foam dice at the end of the night.
A unique, delightfully chaotic and creative experience. A must-add to your roster, mixing it up from your classic quiz and karaoke nights. So did Degenerate Fox manage to pull off the dirty thirty scripts in sixty minutes? You’ll have to go along and find out! As they say themselves, if you’ve seen The Dirty Thirty once, you’ve only seen it once!
Fridays and Saturdays at The Rosemary Branch Theatre until the end of October.