Tag Archives: Assembly Roxy

Review: Gash Theatre Gets Ghosted

Gash Theatre

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Assembly Roxy Online

Described as a referential piece of immersive digital theatre, Gash Theatre Gets Ghosted is an exuberant and incisive piece of theatre. Opening with a credit sequence that references old B-movie styles, and continuing to pepper effects and tropes from the genre throughout the show, it is clear that Gash Theatre has embraced and celebrated its digital platform. This is not just theatre transferred onto film, but truly digital theatre which revels in the possibilities of this new hybrid art form.

The show opens with the two creators and performers Maddie Flint and Nathalie Ellis-Einhorn running away from some unknown pursuer and eventually finding their way into the apparent refuge of an abandoned apartment. However, all is not as it seems. Amidst old flyers and posters upturned TVs battered armchairs and flickering lamps two women find themselves haunted by the gendered expectations and outdated clichés that have been created by popular media. This apartment is possessed by the ghost of pop culture masculinities

Utilising references and soundbites from classic romantic comedies and other well-known film and TV scenes, over-the-top impressions of hegemonic masculinity in the form of a Kiss-singing werewolf, conscious exposure of theatrical artifice, and surreal chitchat between animate household objects, Gash Theatre creates and entertaining yet incisive piece of theatre which questions our assumptions around relationships sexuality and gender politics.

As they eventually break out of this den of macho masculinity the two performers invite us to consider what it would feel like to break out of the confines of cultural expectations and unplug the dominant narrative. Ellis-Einhorn and Flint are pushing boundaries in both theme and form. Gash Theatre Gets Ghosted is an accomplished and inventive piece of digital theatre, which demonstrates the technical capacity of its medium, while retaining an engaging theatrical essence at its core.

Gash Theatre Gets Ghosted is available on demand until 29th August as part of Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Dr Zeiffal, Dr Zeigal and the Hippo That Can Never Be Caught – Edinburgh Fringe Review

Mouths of Lions

Assemby Roxy

26/08/17

zeiffal

Have you ever spotted a wild hippopotamus of the “United K.?”

What’s that? There aren’t any hippos here you say?

Well that is where you would be wrong. Dr. Zeiffal (Georgia Murphy) and Dr. Zeigal (Oliver Weatherly) have been studying Hippopotami for years; they have all of the special equipment, their hippo map for tracking sightings, and their special hippo packaging. However, despite tracking many sightings, the problem is, Dr. Zeiffal and Dr. Zeigal have never actually seen a hippo, but they hope that will change as a wild hippo has been spotted right here in Edinburgh.

Dr. Zeiffal (with help from her assistant, Dr. Zeigal) takes her audience of hippo enthusiasts through a lesson on hippopotami and how to catch them. Upon learning that she may finally get the chance to see a wild hippo, it’s panic stations as Dr. Zeiffal, Dr. Zeigal and the audience try to catch a glimpse of the infamous hippo. After putting on their Hippo Google Goggles and learning the hippo signal, the audience is equipped to warn the performers when the hippo appears, but it’s not as easy as all that; Murphy and Weatherly deliver high calibre classic comedy as they frantically chase a hippopotamus around the theatre.

The production is well paced, involving the audience in the action and playing well to the room. Both Murphy and Weatherly have strong stage presence; Murphy delights as the eccentric Dr. Zeiffal, developing a memorably frenetic and enthusiastic character, while Weatherly demonstrates versatility in his performance as he doubles as the haphazard Zeigal and the elusive but sweet hippopotamus.  The direction and the writing both adeptly cater to the younger and older members of the audience, with well-executed physical comedy, verbal jokes and word play providing laughs for all ages.

If you think you know all that you need to know about hippopotami, I guarantee you will find something new in this production; I bet you didn’t know that hippos are terrified of umbrellas, and I’m sure you have never seen an invisible hippo-catching blanket!

Well…you still won’t exactly see the invisible hippo-catching blanket, but you’ll see its effects in this exuberant and entertaining show that is fun for all ages. Dr Zeiffal, Dr. Zeigal and the Hippo That Can Never Be Caught is a hilarious and clever production that uses tried and tested comic techniques to make a fresh and energetic piece of family theatre.