Joseph Morpurgo teams up with theatre company Truthmouth in a crazy but brilliant character comedy, presented alongside a wacky slideshow. Declaring his passion for acting – or, as he proudly projects, ‘lying from the diaphragm’ - Morpurgo plays a range of comic characters with excellent wit, and leaves his audience in stitches.
Acting as an elderly man trying to pass for a ‘hip’ nineteen-year-old who is desperate to fight in Afghanistan, Morpurgo is convincing from the beginning, and hilarious from there on out. Moronic business plans for Twitter and parodies of overzealous television chefs are a particular highlight, with ‘One Minute Meals’ resulting in lettuce, salt and, very nearly, milk being spewed all over the stage. Morpurgo’s efforts to make fossils crude in his fossil edition of FHM is also hugely successful, and he generally moves seamlessly from scene to scene, most of which are very physically demanding.
Morpurgo’s interaction with the audience worked very well, but a word of warning should be given to those who choose to sit at the front. I was chosen to be interviewed – and quite thoroughly - by a strangely bureaucratic assassination company. After being asked if I am Prussian, I had to pick my preferred way to die from an excessive, ludicrous list, much to everyone else’s amusement. My sunglasses also managed to become the subject of a small rap.
Morpurgo’s musical interludes are the gems of this show, from R. Kelly impressions to very, very alternative versions of Great Expectations. A couple of scenes drag and these far less memorable sketches could easily be cut in order to allow Morpurgo slightly more time to catch his breath. Nevertheless, he still manages to deliver by the end of his show especially when recalling the Nokia Snake game. The show reaches its climax as Morpurgo screeches ‘pity this forgotten serpent!’ before scoffing apples and complaining with seemingly everlasting energy about his plight as a snake.
Packed with characters, videos and songs, the sheer amount of effort that goes into Truthmouth is remarkable. Morpurgo is innovative, often completely ridiculous, but also overwhelmingly funny.
