Review: Fontanelle, Soho Theatre

I don’t think that Jordan Brookes is the first comedian I would expect to branch out into musical theatre. And yet, here we are. Coming via the Edinburgh Fringe, Brookes has sailed his show Fontanelle to Dean Street and is moored at the Soho Theatre until early March. Existing somewhere between a musical and stand-up, with music and lyrics by Jake Roche, it is surprisingly thought-provoking, true to Brooke’s particular flavour of weirdness, and very funny.

Brookes has chosen the focal point of the Titanic to spin his show around. Two main topics return throughout, namely disaster porn and masculinity. One of those is a natural theme to hook on while exploring a maritime tragedy, but the other… Not so much. But somehow it works just beautifully.

In anyone else’s hands, it might not have felt so good. Brookes has a youthful charm and playfulness that feels very natural. But the boyishness is teased a bit by the reality of a 38-year-old man in short shorts, a tight white shirt and a teeny tiny captain’s hat, thanks to costume designer Amondine Tison Campbell. This only adds to the absurdity that runs throughout, which Brookes is primed to poke fun at.

Sometimes the musical parts felt a bit like the disaster porn that Brookes was talking about, as we watched snippets of overly enthusiastic singing and dancing of shanties and so on. Hitting these ridiculous well, Brookes was supported by four cast members: Eddy Hare, Rosalie Minnitt, Isobel Rogers and Lami Olopade. Jumping around as captains, passengers, and an astronaut (yes, an astronaut), their ‘seriousness’ in the tongue-in-cheek musical moments made them even funnier. Special mention to Minnitt, who was hilarious in the crucial first minutes to warm us up for what was to come.

Am I the only person who doesn’t know what a fontanelle is? It’s the soft bit in a baby’s head, grown over by skulls in our early years. I watched everyone around me nod when Brookes asked who knew, moments before wondering what it would be like to stick your thumb inside your own if we still had one as adults. Brookes pushes his jokes far, sitting with them for long enough to make them funnier as they go on, turning around the low hitters into ones that get better and better. Fontanelle is a bit of ridiculousness, some tongue-in-cheek fun-poking at musical theatre, and a lot of laughter. It’s incredibly well-designed but feels like a free-flowing stream of consciousness from Brookes’ brilliant mind.

Written by: Jordan Brookes
Music and lyrics by: Jake Roche
Sound design by: Sarah Spencer and Ciaran Clarke
Lighting by: Dan Carter-Brennan
Props by: Pat Cahill
Choreography by: Jessica Simmons
Costumes by: Amondine Tison Campbell

Fontanelle plays at Soho Theatre until 1 March.