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Winter is Coming. Again.

 
Anton Kudryashov Jr. Review by Anton Kudryashov Jr. 3 Published: 13 Aug 2015 Gilded Balloon Show Dates: 5 Aug 2015-31 Aug 2015

Winter Is Coming. Again. by the Australian comedy group, Backwards Anorak, will be funny and relevant for fans of the hit HBO series Game of Thrones, but maybe not ideal for those going into the show unaware.

The show is very much made by Game of Thrones fans, for Game of Thrones fans

The narrative is centred around the main character Vince (Milesi) competing with the more obvious choice Michelle (Brasier) over who will play the coveted role of Khaleesi (the female role) in the musical version of Game of Thrones they are currently performing. Vince may not look much like the Mother of Dragons – and the blonde wig and bikini top do not help – but what he lacks in likeness he more than makes up for in passion, with hilarious results.

Joining them on stage are their understudies, played by Laura Frew and Leo Milesi. They play characters who are unafraid to use their superior talents to occasionally flip off the audience, climb over seats and don ridiculous outfits in order to appease the mentoring eye of Vince, who always knows better. They provide some of the best comedic segments of the show - Frew stands out especially as the enthusiastic cast member who knows exactly what to do. Completing the troupe is Joe Kosky playing the keyboard and the occasional character.

The show does not excel at musical numbers. Some songs are catchy, especially the Red Wedding number, but when they come up the songs are often over too quickly and the cast does not quite have the vocal chords to make them resonate. The cast is, on the other hand, great with audience participation. Ranging from casting a Hodor, to calling on the audience to make ‘incest noises’, or using them as a ‘the wall’. Audience interaction was always clever, inventive and ultimately very funny.

The show is very much made by Game of Thrones fans, for Game of Thrones fans. The cast counts on an ‘initiated’ audience and an assumed knowledge is very important for the jokes to fly, which means if you’ve seen the television series odds are you’ll be laughing, but if not, then the laughs really are harder to grasp.

Perhaps Backwards Anorak is only at fault for assuming that everyone who comes to their show is a GoT fan, though, to be fair, a lot of them are and so will find plenty of humour here. Backwards Anorak have bravely jumped on the Game of Thrones bandwagon and milked the series for all the hilarity that could be squeezed out of it. 

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The Blurb:

Walls. Dragons. Incest. Eurovision. In the tradition of Waiting for Guffman, Backwards Anorak return with the newly revamped Winter is Coming. Again. 'A high energy, hilarious musical spectacle that relies on the rare but incredibly pleasing blurred line between insanity and genius' ***** (ThreeWeeks). 'A well-written, expertly timed and often hilarious comedy-musical ... George RR Martin would be proud' ***** (Skinny). 'As sweary as the TV series but really, really funny' (Scotsman). Written and performed by Michelle Brasier and Vince Milesi, with Laura Frew, Leo Milesi and Joe Kosky.