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Me and Mr C, Ovalhouse Theatre – Review

Pros: Incredibly funny and lots of audience participation.

Cons: A bit slow, with a few moments of awkward silence.

Pros: Incredibly funny and lots of audience participation. Cons: A bit slow, with a few moments of awkward silence. I have seen several productions at the Ovalhouse but, Me and Mr C definitely stands out from the rest. As I waited to go into the theatre, the rest of the Ovalhouse was thriving around us. This unfortunately meant we couldn’t sit anywhere and all the staff were rushed off their feet, but it was great to see such a busy theatre with a thriving atmosphere. As we took our seats in the surprisingly large theatre, we were confronted with…

Summary

rating

Good

A very funny performance but needs a lively audience to get it going. 


I have seen several productions at the Ovalhouse but, Me and Mr C definitely stands out from the rest. As I waited to go into the theatre, the rest of the Ovalhouse was thriving around us. This unfortunately meant we couldn’t sit anywhere and all the staff were rushed off their feet, but it was great to see such a busy theatre with a thriving atmosphere.

As we took our seats in the surprisingly large theatre, we were confronted with a rather ugly blue sofa centre stage with a bottle of water and a trunk either side. A lonely kitchen chair stood to the left. My immediate impression was that I had no idea where this was going. The house lights went down and Gary Kitching, the writer and star of this one man show, entered the stage dressed very casually in jeans and T-shirt. His approach was relaxed as he introduced himself and the content of the show to the audience. The words “this is improvised” were used a lot. The show was full of twists and turns and the audience participated in more ways than one.

This was a strange kind of stand-up comedy routine that had a story line too it. All of which was “improvised” on the night. At one point he told the whole audience to heckle at him, to which the audience gladly complied. We were in fits of laughter most of the way through. Unfortunately there were a few awkward moments of silence. This was generally where Gary had to think about what happened next in the story. In general though, I found the show very funny and joined in as much as I could. Like other members of the audience, I was stunned into silence at moments which brought down the mood of the show. As the poster suggested, there is a puppet involved in the show. It seemed some kind of weird friendship was trying to form between Gary and the doll, but I didn’t feel like it reached a climax or had any real impact to the performance.

All in all, a very funny show, with a great performance by Gary Kitching. He is a very friendly and warm performer who knows how to please his audience. The show itself had very comical moments but a times it did feel like there was something missing. None the less, if one of your mates is having a stag or hen do coming up, this would be perfect entertainment: a show made for a big group of silly friends before a night out.

Directed by: Alex Swift
Written and Performed: by Gary Kitching
Booking Link: http://www.ovalhouse.com/whatson/booktickets/MeandMrC
Booking Until: November 21st

About Leto Dietrich

Leto is originally from the Midlands. He came to London three years ago to study Drama and performance at London South Bank University, where he is currently in his third year and preparing to go on to do a Masters in theatre directing. He loves seeing a variety of different theatre from musicals to straight plays, but does have a soft spot for interactive and immersive theatre. Other interest include volunteer work at local community and youth centres.

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