Comédie macabre
Stiff proves that it's easy to find the funny bone if the body's a corpse
PREVIEW
STIFF
Spymonkey
High Performance Rodeo
January 19 to 23
Engineered Air Theatre (CPA)
Is death funny? It is, according to international clown surrealists, Spymonkey, who vow to make High Performance Rodeo junkies die laughing during a brief run at the Engineered Air Theatre.
A macabre little skit, Stiff…undertaking Undertaking was the surprise hit of the 2000 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and has since gone on to hammer audiences with its gasping-for-air-humour in every country from Syria to Mexico. "Spymonkey has literally travelled four continents to show it off," says Petra Massey, who is from the U.K. and is one of the comedy troupe's four members. "And it has come up trump everywhere." The other members of Spymonkey include Toby Park, who is also from the U.K., Stephan Kreiss from Germany and Aitor Bassauri from Spain.
Set in the Victorian era, Stiff features "the incredibly pompous, up-your-ass Forbes Murdston," as Massey puts it, a recently widowed tragedian who expresses his undying affection for his beloved wife, Morag, in the only way a self-involved actor can – by staging a melodrama that recreates her death. Unfortunately, Murdston can't afford the best of the best and is forced to hire borderline buffoon actors. "With the utmost naiveté, these amateur clowns jazz up Murdston's piece, but really end up ambushing his script in the worst possible ways," notes Massey.
As director Cal McCrystal points out, "Stiff is a play-within-a-play and it was created through a series of collaborative workshops between myself and Spymonkey. It was very much an experiment. We wanted to try to do some good quality clown work."
Both McCrystal and Massey are quick to point out that their use of the term "clowning" has nothing to do with what most people think of when they envision a clown.
"We're not talking about clowns with big red noses and floppy shoes," says Massey. "It's more the Laurel and Hardy type of clowning.
In fact, Spymonkey has been compared to the Marx Brothers," clarifies McCrystal. "It's madcap comedy."
"The obvious appeal of Stiff is that it touches on the common issue of death," says Massey, who plays the mortician's make-up artist, Amanda Candace Sandra Brandy (Massey notes her abridged name is Mandy Candy Sandy Brandy). "After all, everyone drops dead at some point. Stiff has an innocence, but it is very naughty and has this funny view on a dark, somewhat taboo subject."
"What makes this show a winner is that the four performers really have a love and respect for each other while having a great sense of mischief and competitive spirit," adds McCrystal. "There's a racy energy that creates an atmosphere where anything can happen." |
