Welcome to The Empire. The circus freak-show is about to begin – but wait, the owner, Charlie, has just been killed. Whodunnit?
‘Why Charlie, why?” the characters sing in unison, setting the tone for an evening of riotous and jolly vaudevillian (as well as vaudevillain!) music-theatre.
Les Vaudevillains is the new ensemble piece – delivered by nine actor-musicians and one vent-doll – from the very talented theatre company Les Enfants Terribles. It is show within a show, directed by James Seager. The story and by Oliver Lansley (who also performs), and the music is composed by Thomas Gisby.
The story is set in the early 19th century, and the show features Les Enfants Terribles’ trademark white-face make-up and Victoriana aesthetic. The ethos of the story is that of the Wild West saloon bar; where only the strongest survive.
It’s a show about villains. And of course it is the villains who always grab our attention in life or on stage – far more than the good boys and girls. The black sheep of society, the renegades.
The characters we meet here are a motley crew: the drunk owner of the establishment, Charlie, is brought to the stage with great panache by Richard Emerson. The other members of the team are The Knife Thrower, Ray the Blade (Will Arundel); The Great Magician Mephisto (Tsemaye Bob-Egbe); The Cerberus Twin Sisters (Emma Fraser, Nicola Hawkin and Phillipa Hogg); The Voiceless Mimic, Gaston Gasteau (Philip Oakland); The Compere (Oliver Lansley); The Ventriloquist Albert Frog and his diminutive double Mr. Punchy (Anthony Spargo). Spargo excels in the manipulation of his doll.
We love these extravagantly costumed villains. We love their cruelty. The way they think. How they build their Machiavellian plans against their enemy. Some are sharp and economic with their words and movements, while others are clumsy and overblown. Some disguise their true identities well, whilst others fearlessly expose their evil faces from the very first appearance onstage.
Through flashbacks, we discover the dark story of these black sheep, all of them murderers in the past who had been saved from jail by Charlie. For example, Ray the Blade had a sad end as a butcher, The Twin Sisters were not happy with the surgery that was performed on their triple-body, and The Ventriloquist had to escape from daily electric shock treatment. As the story progresses, we see the characters reveal their real feelings for Charlie as they sing in a rousing chorus, ‘Die, Charlie, Die’.
The story is a little predictable, but we are entertained and delighted by the stagecraft and the songs. It is also a great pleasure to see the show in a setting that is so appropriate – the mirrored Palace of Varieties Spiegeltent that forms part of the Assembly George Square complex of pop-up venues.