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Bit parts: Garry Starr Performs Everything @swkplay

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Garry Starr Performs Everything is a bare-bones (and bare buttocks) tribute to the theatre. Theatre may be in trouble, and audiences are down, but Garry Starr aims to save the theatre and bring back to the masses every style of theatre possible. As long as each style involves wearing a transparent white leotard or a skimpy thong. And tassels. It's part comedy, part physical comedy and part perv at Gary's physical prowess. The sentiment "if you've got it, flaunt it" applies here. So here we are with a show that has been around for some years and is having its first proper London run at the Southwark Playhouse (Borough) through Christmas. The premise is that Garry Starr (played by Damien Warren-Smith) has left the Royal Shakespeare Company over artistic differences. He is now on a mission to save the theatre from misrepresentation and worthy interpretations by doing things such as a two-minute Hamlet, recreating scenes from a Pinter play using unsuspecting audience

Dire sheep: Big Brother Blitzkrieg @KingsHeadThtr


It seems like a great concept: after many rejections from Vienna's art school and a botched suicide attempt, Hitler wakes up in the Big Brother House.

But what could pass for a five minute sketch is dragged out for an excruciating seventy minutes with few laughs.


Satire I thought was meant to be funny. At least it is in Chaplin's The Great Dictator and pretty much anything from Mel Brooks. Instead we have an earnest and unconvincing argument that we all get swept away by charisma in the end.

If the intention is to explore what does reality television do for politicians the answer from this seems to be not a lot. The programme notes Donald Trump is using reality television fame to run for President. But he is also spending a lot of his own personal fortune on doing that (and the jury is still out on how well that is going for him).

The big brother household assembled seems a bit odd as well. They look too old to be contestants. And if they are meant to spoofs of media personalities it is too unclear to be be funny. Besides, given the average age of any Big Brother winner is 25, I would have thought Hitler had no chance...

Big Brother Blitzkrieg runs at the Kings Head Theatre until 30 January.

⭐︎⭐︎

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