Boy Girl Wall

Company: The Escapists
Venue: Sue Brenner Theatre, Metro Arts, Brisbane
Dates: 4 - 14 August 2010

This theatrical offering comes from the same people who concocted the hilarious, anarchic Attack of the Attacking Attackers. At the time I described the group, who call themselves The Escapists, that’s Jonathon Oxlade, Matthew Ryan, Lucas Stibbard and Neridah Waters as a Pythonesque partnership with a Goon Show connection. The connections remain, but Boy Girl Wall is less Monty Python now, more Goon. Lucas Stibbard, the man in this 75-minute one man show, produced characters and voices – even for inanimate objects – like a Peter Sellars or a Spike Milligan. And like those ghosts of the past, told a rather silly story involving those unlikely characters.

In essence the humour is advanced undergraduate fun neatly adapted to an adult audience, and it works beautifully. The opening night audience laughed at the jokes and yet listened to the story. But not only is it funny it is also a cleverly crafted piece that fits its many parts together like a jigsaw puzzle. I loved the “menu” on the stage wall that wall that contained descriptions of the 23 mini episodes, so if it moves too fast, there is a quick reality check to find out exactly where you are.

Thom is a man who works in IT. He is considered good and efficient and yet when he called in but the boss for an assessment he confesses to having no idea what he does or how he fits into the company’s structure. This is after 10 years with the firm. In his flat he watches the stars searching for a super nova. Next door is Alethea a children’s writer with writer’s block. Between them is a wall, but it is no ordinary wall, it has a romantic heart and wants to bring the two lonely humans together.

Stibbard plays this wall, along with the ceiling and the oh so cool floor, in a very animated and exhausting way. It is a very funny segment. But then so was the attack of the killer magpie, a story told by the use of sketches thrown onto the wall via an old projector and the various peculiar humans who flitted through the tale – oh and the days of the week, each with their own personality. Everybody in the audience exactly what Friday was like!

All the segments are funny in varying degrees, but none funnier than the when the sock puppets were in use. There is no doubt they stole the show. Stibbard had the audience in stitches when the erring, lonely sock puppet went to Sydney’s Kings Cross in search of love. I tell you, after seeing this no man will ever look at a pair of socks in the same way again. This is the first time Stibbard has done a one-man show, but he showed how talented he is, holding the audience in the palm of his hand with a gesture, a look or a quick change of body language.

He brought us through the story, using many sticks of chalk as he drew the set piece on floor and walls. And once used these props we used again and expanded in a very canny way to move the storyline along. He needed to wake up early, so when he alarm went off he drew a clock on the wall, so he could turn it off. He brought Alethea’s computer Dave to life just like he did the other inanimate objects.

It was, as the production company wanted it to be, pure escapist fun with no morality tale, no deep psychoses (except maybe for the sock), no underlying messages, just sheer unadulterated fun. It flowed fast and furious and for once I can say that a short show is well worth the admission money.

Eric Scott

To read more of Eric Scott's theatre reviews, check out Absolute Theatre.