‘The Impossible, Improbable & Unlikely Adventure Of…’ – SharkhelpingFish
Multiple Performances 25th and 26th May, the Danehurst, 3 Broad Street, Brighton
This was a perambulatory journey through a hotel in development with story linked encounters in each of its six rooms. Each performance takes up to six members of the audience every fifteen minutes through an odyssey centring on an eccentric explorer with other unusual and mystical performers.
This promenade performance started off well with an icy tundra-scape in the basement room, where the explorer told us his tragic tale of loss, starvation, and hinted at cannibalism. We scarpered quickly, being taken next to meet an eccentric Scot who bellowed his tale of adventure at us before moving onto a hidden outside area with a orange cloaked magi, a bar room area, and an ivy-clad water closet replete with scantily clad air-hostess with some big issues. We visited an exotic belly dancer, and finally a crystal maze-esque room with a task to find a key to escape.
We saw other explorers en route but we each moved around the venue at different timed points watching each scene unfold. I found the thinking behind the show and the enthusiasm of its performers encouraging, my feeling was that they were fresh out of drama school and fired up by an idea and a venue. At points, this was an engaging experience with unexpected twists and turns; I particularly liked the explorer character and our final bid to solve the clues as a group in the final room in an attempt to escape.
I found however that other sections lagged and lacked clarity. It didn’t feel like all the sequences came together clearly to represent a whole story, and I often wasn’t sure what the link (if any) there was between these performers’ tales. The bar sequence seemed an unnecessary interruption in the programme and although I’m sure helped to add value to the performers budget, did little to add to my enjoyment of the show.
I think that these performers show promise and indeed the show with heavy editing could work much better, but as it stands this was not a highlight.
https://www.brightonfringe.org/whats-on/the-impossible-improbable-unlikely-adventure-of-124622/
Hi Nicola, thanks for your visit. I assumed you realized that the ‘bar’ was in fact the intermission, so it’s connection to the main narrative is an actual interruption before journeying on and a chance for us to get to know our guests. As the show runs in clockwork, with performers needing to reset before the next group can arrive, this gives the actors that moment- and is not a simple random stop. Sorry for the lack of clarity. We understand that everyone’s appreciation of the material might not be the same and truthfully, it isn’t a traditional sit-down and watch, one-act-in-a-theatre play, but is instead 6 stories pieced-together to form one long narrative with several ‘professional’ actors asking for you to interact to varying degrees. We are a small setting and ideally work best with a group of friends or couples and hope people wanting to have something a little ‘out-of-the-box’ will give us a visit. But again, we appreciate your visit.