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Somewhere that's green: Potty the Plant at Wiltons Music Hall

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"I'm Potty the Plant," sings a potted plant in this odd little fringe concept of a show. It's hard not to get the tune out of your head, even if the show is brief. It's an earworm for a show that features a worm-like plant as a puppet. And given the show's brevity, running at only an hour, it's hard to get too annoyed by a lack of a coherent story, even if it still seems like the show could use a bit more development (which is underway). It has made its London debut at Wilton's Music Hall. The premise is that Potty, the plant, lives in the hospital office of Dr Acula (geddit?) and dreams of a life with the cleaning lady Miss Lacey (Lucy Appleton). But Dr Acula might be responsible for why all these children are disappearing while trying to romance Miss Lacey for her family's money that she doesn't have. Three nurses are on the case, trying to solve the mystery.  If the show settled on a convincing plot, location and set of characters, it could ...

Animal Urges: Awkward Conversations with Animals I F*cked @kingsheadthtr


Awkward Conversations with Animals I’ve F*cked certainly has an evocative and attention-grabbing title. There’s also an animal-like performance by Linus Karp. He’s part awkward young man, part woodland creature and so he holds your attention. But once you realise the animals are real the rest becomes a letdown. It’s less awkward conversations and more repetitive conversations. The species changes but it’s the same story. It’s currently playing at Kings Head Theatre. 

It opens in what looks like a student dorm room. Dirty sheets, dirty clothes and food are strewn across the floor. And Bobby is lying there on the bed. It’s the morning after the night before. And then he starts talking. Soon you realise that the trying on the dog collar is not quite role-playing. 



Next, he moves on to conversations with cats. Then sheep, monkeys and bears. Sure the conversations touch on his life and loneliness. There’s a hint about mental illness. But none of this is particularly convincing. The attempt to highlight some form of double standard re the treatment of animals and what’s socially acceptable regarding sex was unintentionally funny. And seemed to draw awkward silence from the audience rather than laughs. I was hoping that he’d contract anthrax or some sort of interesting bacterial infection after one of the encounters. At least that would give some perspective to the scenes. 

This show was a hit at Edinburgh. It’s the kind of high-concept, edgy sort of thing people seek out there. But removed from this context it seems like a curiosity more than a comedy. 

Directed by Katherine Armitage, Awkward Conversations with Animals I’ve F*cked is at the Kings Head Theatre until 27 April.

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Photos by Simon J Webb

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