Skip to main content

Review of The Boy With Tape On His Face at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

Sometimes the very simplest of things can be the very best and perhaps in these complicated days, there is nothing better than to experience something, minus a very small addition of modern culture and tech, what could have been done a hundred plus years ago. The Boy With Tape On His Face is the most variety act a variety act could be and coupled with the most ridiculous amount of audience interaction you could imagine, makes it perhaps one of the very best theatre experiences.


Over a two hour show The Boy of the title, hence known as Tape Face, utters not a single word, strip of black tape across his mouth and with dark eyeliner, he is quite a sight. It is truly a clever and well defined character in itself, kited out with satchel and stripy top, before he gets into his elaborate and hilarious set-pieces. Pacing the stage from long before the show begins and finally settling on staring out the audience via his wall mirror. Our location is his dressing room, the audience perhaps his dream creations, as Tape Face drifts into a deep sleep to the company of the shipping forecast.

What follows are a serious of truly silly, mostly preposterous, but outright hilarious skits, often featuring members of the audience. Many pieces are driven cleverly from music, others from such things as Rubik's Cubes and golf clubs. All moments leaded to glory as not one piece fell flat, as the audience participation worked at all times, because Tape Face clearly has the talent to make it work. This show also fails to conform to the "safe area" of audience participation as Tape Face on a couple of occasions whipped himself up to the dress circle, where I was seeking safety (I knew a little about the show beforehand). There but for the grace of  Royal & Derngate, I could so nearly have been blaming it on the boogie. I did feel sure he was pointing at the chap next to me, who like me appeared to have a dodgy leg.

In retrospect, I actually feel sad about that, as this, like my previous stint on stage (The Play Goes Wrong as I keep telling people), would have been an amazing show to be part of. No one is cruelly ridiculed, this is kind, friendly and family safe. I loved everything (and got to see that plate trick live for the very first time. Amazing!) and would have happily sat watching all night.

Tape Face deserves every success in the future with this truly brilliant show. I posted after that it was one of the best theatre experiences that I have had, This is no lie, it offers an endlessly funny evening of laughter, which cannot come more recommended if you get the chance to see him. I don't fancy the task of cleaning up the theatre after though.

«««««


Performance reviewed: Monday 7th November, 2016 at the Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton.

The Boy With Tape On His Face was performed at the Royal & Derngate on 
Monday 7th November, 2016 only. However his tour continues though the UK and into Europe and West End dates next year. For details see http://tapeface.tv/

For further details about the Royal & Derngate visit their website at http://www.royalandderngate.co.uk/

Popular posts from this blog

Review of Benidorm Live at Milton Keynes Theatre, Milton Keynes

I arrived at Milton Keynes Theatre to see this touring stage version of ITV comedy hit Benidorm with a distinct lack of knowledge. Having never seen the show, my information stretched as far as knowing it was set in a holiday resort in Spain (the title helps there), and that the humour generally resorted to the cruder end of the spectrum. However, having graced the screens for ten years, it was clear that Derren Litten's show had garnered quite a following, and indeed it was clear from the reception of the audience on the night, that this following was pretty much filling the theatre. The plot, such as it is for this stage show, is very much drafted from an episode of Fawlty Towers , and made a great deal more adult with its humour. The hotel manager, Joyce Temple-Savage (a sharp performance by Sherrie Hewson) gets wind that a hotel inspector is in, and the scene is set for seeking them out and all the obvious cases of mistaken identity. It's thin and doesn't fill

Review of Bert's House at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

Bert's House is a true Northampton homegrown production from On The Shore Productions, this piece has been written, cast, produced and opened on stage for a short tour at the beautiful Royal Theatre at the centre of Northampton, and while here for two nights it found a loving local audience to set it off on its adventures. Bert's House tells the tale of kindly guest house owner Bert and his trials and tribulations within his slightly ramshackle Dunedin Guest House residence in what appears to be an equally ramshackle seaside resort. The house, it seems, is also, a draw for the most quirky of visitors, and equally wacky staff. However, it seems, that a few of both the residents and staff have nefarious reasons for being there. Bert's House is an extremely quirky affair, floating in a surreal world, which both follows its own paths as well as paying endless tributes to British comedy through the years, including many nods to sitcoms of yesteryear. The script, from standup

Review of Planet Circus OMG! 2016 at Billing Aquadrome, Northampton

An unexpected call from a friend who had received a free ticket, Ă  la Willy Wonka's Golden Ticket, to go and see a circus for free, left me sitting in a circus tent a few hours later for the first time in about thirty years. It was a wise, albeit on occasion, scary decision. I have to confess that when seeing shows like this, where there is an element of danger involved I do tend to squirm into the chair I sit. This happened mostly during the opening act of the second half of the show, the suitably titled Wheel Of Death. I rolled into an uncomfortable ball, while the five or six year old behind me gleefully shouted that "they are going to die!". This was a scary welcome to the second act, after the first much more relaxing first half. It works excellently and is credit to producer and director Mark Whitney that the show is perfectly balanced, with the bulk of traditional circus arts in the first half, while the more spectacular and often more modern feeling