Fools Island

WHARF 2   JULY/AUGUST  2012

Once upon a time, there was a clown, who accidentally crash landed on a lonely desert island ...

For its target audience,high school students,this is magnificent fun. It is part of the STC’s education programme. Darren Gilshenan is in magnificent form as the twins,one good, one ‘not so good’ ( read very bad , as in some of the Shakespeare comedies).

Gilshenan is amazingly flexible and rubbery, his face and body incredibly expressive tools. About one third of the show is without language, or examining the development of language .Gilshenan indulged in some lewd,rude mime and innuendo that the audience loved.

 For those who might be affected ,be aware that this show uses strobe lighting.There is also great fun with a sequence harking back to the melodrama of old movies,with our hero rescuing our ‘heroine’ tied to train tracks and so on in a sequence that turns violent.Much fun is had by Ertler as percussionist/foley person hidden at the back of the set providing a very atmospheric sound track .  

Shakespeare scholars and theatre addicts will have great fun picking the various quotes from ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream ‘, ‘Othello’, ‘King Lear ‘,’Hamlet’ and others as we follow our hero as he explores his very small island with a single palm tree and a ‘rock’ ( that has multiple roles as a whoopee cushion  and other assorted items). There are fart jokes and other smutty humour,eating jokes and other naughty jokes connecting with the audience of a certain age,who will love the section where he tries to eat himself he is so hungry.

 There’s also a blotto drunk sequence and we see the tree crudely turned in to a vulgar representation of a beautiful woman .The show turn dark actually when we see our hero mourn his lost love and there is some very fine acting by Gilshenan.

The ‘recognition scene’ is very well done with great comic timing. I must also mention the Kabuki like use of red ribbon for blood at a certain point.

The difference between the two characters is signified by a small case with a letter, knife and string of pearls for the ‘bad’ twin and also a slightly different hat angle .    

An excellent performance by Gilshenan,but it depends if you are into the ‘Mechanicals’ side of Shakespeare’s plays.

Running time – an hour 15 ( approx) no interval

FOOLS ISLAND

Bu Darren Gilshenan and Chris Harris
STC Wharf 2   30 July- 17 August 2012

A Sydney Theatre Company/ Tamarama Rock Surfers production

Director   Jo Turner

Performer Darren Gilshenan

Composer/Performer Rose Turtle Ertler

Designer  Jasmine Christie

Lighting Design Matt Cox