Review by: Paul Towers, 22 September 2016
2 Man 3 Muskateers by Pajama Men
Soho Theatre production
Curve 22 & 23 Sptember
“2 men, 1 musician and a whole load of mayhem.”
A bare stage with a pianist tinkling on his ivories as we
walk in is no indication of the bizarre world we are about to stumble into.
What we get is 2 men, 1 musician and a whole load of mayhem. This is the result
of Shenoah Allen and
Mark Chavez’s weird and wonderful imaginations being let loose (and I mean
loose) on Alexandra Dumas’ iconic story of The Three Muskateers.
As
these two American legends of improv have proved in countless comedy festivals
around the world, there is no limit to what they think (and do) get away with
when it comes to bending traditional narrative round corners, curve balls and
any kind of logic.
As
a result we spend an hilarious hour trying to unscramble the tale of three
French renegades while mixed up with centaurs, cardinals and who knows what
other characters they have made up purely to add a laugh to the script.
Add
into this is their razor sharp ad libs and asides, both to the audience and
themselves. Several times we could see as they tried to corpse each other and
failing miserably, so professional are this pair of veteran performers.
While
the actors are acting away at the front of Curve’s Studio space their musician
is having his own fun with all sorts of weird and wonderful instruments.
Altogether this is a fun evening of surreal silliness that
leaves you with a very nice smile on your face.
Pajama Men is on at Curve again on Friday 23rd September
and then on tour. Details on www.pajama-men.com
First published on Western Gazette
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