THE DELUSIONISTS IN BUNKER 5Melbourne Town Hall, April 2 - 26, Tuesday-Saturday 6pm, Sunday 5pm.Tickets $19 - $15
Rating: 2.5/5
The Delusionists are an energetic quintet of young Sydney comedians whose undergraduate origins are still evident in this post-apocalyptic story of friendships, mayonnaise and mutants.
In a labyrinthine bunker deep below the surface of the Earth, five survivors fend off boredom by playing virtual squash, squabbling over food rations and practising their contamination drills.
Chaos threatens when the arrival of a three-armed stranger shifts the balance of their self-contained world.
A distinct improvement over last year's Everything That Ever Happened, Ever (which was dragged down by its episodic structure and the weakness of the roles for the two female cast members) Bunker 5 sees The Delusionists playing to their strengths: sharply written scenes, the group's collective chemistry, and a well developed sense of the absurd.
The second half of the show struggles under a laboured plot, but a Dolly Parton musical number and a werewolf ensure the energy never lags.
This review first appeared in The Age Online on Monday April 6.
3 comments:
I saw this show in its opening week and thought it deserved a lot more then 2.5 stars. The humour is light and free flowing not to mention the accompanying plot which more then satisfies the comedy palate. If the reaction of the audience is any indication, it is in the opinion of this audience member that Bunker 5 will be one of the highlights of this years comedy festival.
You are, of course, entirely entitled to your opinion, Robert - but given the calibre of some of the other shows I've seen so far this year I think my rating is entirely appropriate. Also, I felt the last half of the show was extremely laboured. You may disagree...?
That's very surprising, because I went the other way. History felt Monty Pythonesque random, and Bunker felt dull.
It's nice to read other peoples take on comedy, because I follow it quite a bit - I wish we had your MICF -.
Sidney Critic
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