Maddy Anholt’s one-woman impressions show is nothing short of brilliant. Charming, sweet and laugh-out-loud funny, this is an absolute must-see.
The show follows the story of Maddy, who has felt compelled to impersonate the people she meets since her childhood. Anholt’s use of her own first name for the main character allows her to successfully blur the boundaries between woman and character and draw the audience into her highly engaging story.
Anholt is in possession of an amazing repertoire of accents, from South African to Scouse to the voice of herself as a child, perfect almost without exception (her Bostonian tended to falter on some vowel sounds) and accompanied by varied physical traits which she adopts in an instant. Costume changes are simple but very effective and it takes only the smallest thing to initiate an instant transformation between characters. A pair of pink glasses will suffice for the vain extrovert Paloma Freel, while an alice band allows young Maddy to surface. These aspects of the show are used brilliantly to bring to life a range of characters in a way which I thoroughly enjoyed.
Characters are highly relatable owing to their being huge exaggerations of modern stereotypes. A woman who has spent so much time around horses that she’s adopted their mannerisms and an eccentric upper-class Buddhist are just the tip of the iceberg of talent that is Maddy Anholt. Music and sound effects are used with great success to add interest and build tension throughout the story. In particular the use of many overlapping voiceovers at the climax of the piece served as an excellent reminder of the fantastic talent we had witnessed during the show.
A relaxed show that is great fun for an audience (and, I suspect, for its performer), Maddy’s Many Mouths is an unmissable piece of comedy.
