They say a picture can tell a thousand words, but it turns out that if it is drawn on cardboard, it can tell a thousand more. The Ice Hole: A Cardboard Comedy tells the story of an actor’s great journey across the globe after being cursed by a mermaid he accidentally caught and fell in love with. Yeah, it sounds strange and it is. This is an hour of pure joy with just two actors and a lifetime’s supply of cardboard on stage.
An hour of side-splitting laughter and endless incredulity at what cardboard is truly capable of
They tell a heartfelt, dizzyingly funny tale. On top of this, most of the dialogue is almost nonsensical, but yet there is nothing difficult to understand from this piece of theatre.
They begin the show with a stage full of cardboard props, sets, and signs all in their place. As the show goes along, every piece of cardboard reveals its use and it is magnificent to behold. There are signs to help navigate the unintelligible nonsense that the Actor recounts, shops made entirely of cardboard, mermaid tails and ocean waves; anything you can imagine is on that stage and is made of…you guessed it, cardboard. It is also fair to say that the handling of hundreds of props without fault is to be applauded, as every set change and gag is delivered flawlessly.
The Actor sits hilariously in his seat for (almost) the entire show, barely moving when he doesn’t have to and certainly not standing. This leaves his Assistant to scramble around the stage moving every prop, set, and costume to its intended place. All of this leads to the funniest part of the show, which is the dynamic between the Actor and his Assistant, as their hate for each other grows stronger and stronger with each action the other performs.
The Ice Hole: A Cardboard Comedy is the pinnacle of physical comedy with a revolutionary take on what cardboard can do within theatre. This is an hour of side-splitting laughter and endless incredulity at what cardboard is truly capable of.
