Director: Ben Pettit-Wade
Company: Hijinx in association with Spymonkey
Reviewer: Tafsila Khan
Following the hit Meet Fred in 2016 Hijinx introduce The Flop in association with Spymonkey.
Set in Paris in 1657 where impotence is illegal. The plays centre on Marquis de Laney and Marie Sant-Simon who despite being married for several years have yet to produce an heir. With the future of the aristocracy at stake the Marquis’s aunt and grandfather set about finding out why. What follows is a fast-paced show which is made all the more chaotic with audience participation and improvisation from the cast.
This chaotic theme extends to the stage which is a series of pink flaps where at any given time characters pop in and out from. One of the more surreal scenes is when a robot randomly appears and starts to chase the Marquis. You soon find that this is the running theme that really anything can happen and probably will.
Improvisation, effortless comedic timing, playing instruments and singing really shows the incredible abilities of the actors. The relationship between the Marquis and his manservant was reminiscent of Basil Fawlty and Manuel from Fawlty Towers.
I was lucky enough to catch the audio described preview showing at Chapter in Cardiff. The show will be officially launched at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, followed by a UK tour in the Autumn. I think this show will go down really well in the festival as it is hilarious and at times surreal, the fact that the actors don’t take themselves very seriously adds to the charm of the show. Sami Thorpe BSL interpreter and Beth House who audio described were kept on their toes with the improvisation, with both doing a sterling job. Being visually impaired I found the audio description was on point despite the fast-paced nature of the show.
Hijinx is an inclusive theatre company who make sure that at the heart of every production they include cast members with learning difficulties. with very loose French accents, big wigs, slapstick humour and adult content and black masking tape for moustaches.
The cast
Ted Lishman
Hannah Mcpake
Jess Mabel Jones
Ian Gibbons
Adam Webb
Jonathan Pugh