The Magic Chicken
Produced by Theatre Beating
Presented by Time Out Theatre at The Edge
Devised and performed by Trygve Wakenshaw & Barnie Duncan
Directed by Geoff Pinfield
The Concert Chamber, Auckland Town Hall
From 9 to 14 July, 2012
Reviewed on Monday 09 July, 2012 at 1.30pm
Published at www.theatreview.org.nz
‘The Magic Chicken’ is an exceptionally fine theatre work and should be seen by anyone who adores great theatre and who is between the ages of three and one hundred and three! Don’t be put off if you saw it the first time around, it’s even better now!
‘The Magic Chicken’ takes us on an extraordinary journey into a rarely seen realm, the world of high quality, traditional European devised theatre. It combines classic mime with slapstick, slow-mo, puppetry, the time-honoured art of clowning and every tiny skerrick of it is astounding. Add to the mix an integrated purity of design and an exceptional physicality and you have work that is quite simply breathtaking.
The set is wide, cartoon-like, in red, white and black and divided asymmetrically into three parts. The smaller area consists of a down-at-heel, one table café at stage left which can be accessed from the back corner via a door to the outside world. The door has a hanging sign on it which says ‘open’ and ‘closed’.
A larger space, stage right, contains the cafe kitchen replete with every piece of Masterchef-like cooking paraphernalia you can imagine but most importantly a fiery oven, a walk-in refrigerator, a workbench downstage centre and a pair of saloon-style, batwing doors that lead through to the aforementioned café and swing both ways. The latter are used, as can be imagined, to considerable effect.
On entering the performance space – seats in rows for the big people, a carpet at the front for the unsuspecting littlies – we are welcomed warmly by a two-piece orchestra featuring, as entracte, percussion and clarinet playing (mostly) recognizable nursery tunes. These two fine gentleman play throughout the entire performance and are an integral – and beautifully integrated – component of it, playing, to accompany the action, a range of percussive, wind and stringed instruments including such all-time favourites as the electric guitar, the kazoo, the harmonica, the swanee whistle and an extraordinary array of eccentric gadgets all of which make magnificent and singularly appropriate but unconventional sounds. These two white-faced, tuxedo-clad gents create a texture that is at times sublimely funny and at others strangely moving and, according to the credits at the end of the show, are called The Beat Roots. The show itself has no discernible linguistic text beyond a few grunts and burps and the orchestra fills the language gap – if there is one – superbly.
The plot is simple.
Toot & Collins, a couple of bungling chefs, aren’t having any luck attracting diners to their café until the arrival Ethel Heihei, a magic, golden egg-laying chicken. Now, you might think that a chicken that strays into a kitchen is bound to come to come to a sad and unhappy end particularly when the only diner happens to be an individual called Evil Eric but no, the men in white – and in particular Toot – come to the rescue and all ends happily for Ethel – but not for Evil Eric.
To some extent the story is irrelevant because the show is more a series of magnificent, knock-about vignettes than anything else. It’s classic clown, it’s Keystone Cops, it’s highly polished slapstick, it’s fine miming, dancing, story-telling and stunt work. There are times when the techniques used are reminiscent of a very good 1930’s movie and everything works seamlessly as the performers slip from one genre to the next with effortless ease. Perhaps the best of all the devices on display are the magical slow-mo sequences and the dazzling ways that this team have invented to defy the laws of gravity and to seemingly make time stand still.
At the heart of all good performance art is trust and Theatre Beating have totally nailed it. There’s enormous trust evident between the actors, the musicians, the crew, the material and the audience and the result is a harmony that is quite rare. When it happens, it’s magic – and ‘The Magic Chicken’ is … well, magical.
It’s hardly surprising when you consider the impressive credentials of Trygve Wakenshaw and Barnie Duncan, the co-creators of the show.
Wakenshaw trained at Ecole Philippe Gaulier, has participated in workshops run by the most accomplished Gaulier school alumni, Complicitéand is developing a fast growing reputation throughout Europe.
Duncan has also worked internationally and has a reputation for quality performances on stage, in television and in film with his work winning critical acclaim at this year’s Edinburgh Festival. Duncan is a specialist in circo arts, acro-balance and physical comedy and he brings all of his exceptional knowledge and skill to ‘The Magic Chicken’ party.
There are wonderful set pieces, too. Some of the best include an attempt to put an unwilling chicken into a cooking pot – the kid’s especially loved this one. There is a wine tasting scene that will tickle the ribs of the grumpiest audience member and a divine sequence where Toots, a misplaced, shaggy mop-head in place of his hat, is ardently wooed by Evil Eric. The comic preparation of food is a guaranteed winner but by far my favourite sequence was the ‘death by toaster’ vignette. It was stunning both conceptually and in its execution. There are chaotic chases, furious fights, an archetypal ninja sequence – my young guest’s favourite part – and as much water as possible was sprayed and flour flung in this excellent hour-long entertainment.
There’s more, heaps more, but I’ve told you enough.
‘The Magic Chicken’ is on tour and will be in a town near you sometime soon. Give the kids a special winter treat at a great price and go and see it. You’ll be thoroughly delighted too because these Theatre Beating dudes are the real deal.
In conclusion, for Auckland theatre aficionados, a special word about the Concert Chamber. It’s not always my favourite venue but for this show it’s simply great. The Town Hall staff were friendly and helpful, the layout was terrific which always a bonus and being welcomed with a smile by the show’s publicist was a special treat. My young guest said he had ‘the best time ever’ and he’s now a real Theatre Beating fan. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery then his ninja chicken impersonation says it all!
As an exercise in brilliantly contrived madcappery you won’t see anything better anywhere. See it soon.
dykiegirl 