Review | Kieran Eaton
Modicum Theatre is amateur. Non-professional theatre can be enjoyable to watch, if they understand their limitations. However, this group does not. It is painful to watch an hour of self righteous, pretentious young up starts think they are more amusing than they really are. If you do not enjoy them, they will most likely say that you are just stupid, or not woke enough.
Set in the vintage style surrounds of The Belgian Beer Cafe, this Goth dressed five look comfortable in a habitat that suits the premise of the show – fairy tales. They all expect you to be huge fans of the genre that you will pick up their references instantly. This lack of self awareness is so grating that you want to shout at them to stop, explain your premise with more insight and make more self awake jokes. The irony is that the performer at the end that is introduced as the techie doing a small five minute story is the only relief in the night, giving sincerity and human connection in his story.
The theme of FairyFales is “Bedtime stories for adults”. If this is the case than our adult sensibilities could definitely be pushed more. The premise has so much potential and yet where it is taken, makes you want to sigh. The crowd is respectful and yet some of the performers want to poke fun at the audience. This arrogance kills any connection you might have with these easily triggered show offs. You see where they got their inspiration for the night – by using the medium as individual storytelling they could be as self indulgent as possible. Their lack of maturity is on full display, especially from a host that more wants to show off his undercut than warm up the crowd. On the positive side, there is enthusiastic energy that keeps the vibe in the audience attentive enough to stay alive. They all have good knowledge of the subject matter in their stories to say, “At least they did some research.”
By the end of the show you will feel relieved that it has ended and that is alright because art is always about exploring the possibilities – even if those possibilities are underwhelming. If you want to see the art form of storytelling celebrated with passion than give Fairyfales a go, for maybe there is something in this quirky take on fairy tales for you.
You can get your tickets for FairyFales 2021 HERE
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