Lucille and Django are two young yoga leader characters with a surfer-vegan-spiritual vibe and chirpy Australian accents. Throughout the show, what seems to be a happy duo descends into a passive aggressive (and then actively aggressive) relationship. Intense love and hate is revealed, as well as several potential murders (human and lizard).
This quintessentially Fringe show is a fun idea, but still in its early stages.
The two performers from PlayFool Theatre generally work well on stage together, and some of the best moments are the details: the two synchronising their ridiculous bows, and the frequent gestures that accompany their catchphrases: ‘namaste’ is pronounced more ways than you can imagine. However, the revelation of their feelings for each other is not well charted, and the lines where we first glimpse the cracks in their friendship are neither deliberately throwaway nor worked into a structure. Seeing as this relationship is what drives the show, the script needs a sharp eye and some replotting.
There were glimmers of delightfully silly ideas. In classic fringe fashion, the performers hand out props to every member of the audience in the form of hats and waistcoats (‘appropriate yoga attire’) and there are chances to win ‘prizes’ through audience participation, which are then denied. The idea of the yoga class is a really fun one, which could have been played with more - the parts were we were invited to join in with breathing and gestures worked well, and I was surprised that they didn't utilise the idea of getting into parody yoga poses more often themselves. When they did demonstrate yoga - with Django deliberately much more impressive than Lucille - the audience was very much on board.
I'm aware that I saw the show on its opening night, and the difficulties you would expect from a first performance were all there: the moments where lines were forgotten, cues were missed, or timing was off may well be fixed for the rest of the short run. However, the overriding feeling was that the show wasn't quite ready for performance. With some rejigging, responding to the ways in which audiences react, this could develop into a really enjoyable late-night show. Go along with some drinks, a group of loud friends, and if you like surreal fights involving stretches and fish pillows, hope that you picked for audience participation.
This quintessentially Fringe show is a fun idea, but still in its early stages.
