Last Orders At The Dog and Dumplings
Brighton Spiegeltent, Bosco
Tuesday 8 May
Serves Up an evening of rip-roaring Comedy
Having very much enjoyed Boogaloo Stu’s previous fringe production ‘Crimplene Millionaire’, (a wild game venturing through the highs and lows of the seventies), I knew his latest instalment would be an evening of hilarious and outrageous entertainment, with tasty servings of audience interaction throughout (even tastier than Kevin and Babs Meat Raffle).
We are welcomed into The Dog and Dumplings with open arms, and from the moment the show starts you feel less like an audience member and more like a regular punter in this wonderfully wild and fine drinking establishment. But a darkness looms throughout, as the building has been purchased by new owners, who are set to demolish their pub. We follow the journey of landlord and lady Kevin and Babs Chisholm, they live, breathe and would die for their home and the community that comes with the local watering hole.
The evening is a delicious 75 minute culmination of comedy, live music, puppetry, and real hard hitting drama. Although it is billed as a dark comedy, the audience become emotionally invested in the story due to the richness of the characters created and performed superbly by Boogaloo Stu and Flick Ferdinando, and this empathy sets us up for a really poignant dramatic climax.
The intimate set was beautiful, with a traditional bar used creatively and effectively, not just for some very clever costume changes, comical moments and puppetry, but they also genuinely served up beer, wine and of course crisps and nuts to the audience, and this silliness just epitomises how fun the entire performance was. The added touch of having live piano and drums alongside Stu and Flick’s hilarious musical hits was really effective and helped to create that pub like atmosphere. The technical side of the production was great too with effective lighting and sound effects used to add an additional layer of comedy throughout the whole show. You can expect the occasional wacky noise of someone letting rip, and what happens with Percy The Cat I still can’t explain, you just have to see it for yourself.
If you’re going to see one show in this year’s Brighton Fringe, make sure it’s Last Order’s At The Dog and Dumplings. It is the perfect night out.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Reviewer: Stephen Sheldrake
Last Orders At The Dog and Dumplings plays at the Bosco Theatre, Brighton until Thursday 10 May 2018 as part of the Brighton Fringe. To find out more or to book tickets, visit http://www.dog and dumplings.co.uk