(Pic: Aaron McIlroy, Lisa Bobbert and Nathan Redpath)Highly humorous, nonsense-filled programme of fun from Lisa Bobbert and Aaron McIlroy. (Review by Caroline Smart)
Wherever you look on the TV channels, viewers are faced with a glut of reality television shows – surviving in hostile jungle environments; make-overs of dress style/houses/gardens/relationships; couples exchanging children from diametrically opposite families … the list is endless and the content fairly predictable.
Multi-award winning and individually acknowledged Mercury Durban Personalities of the Year, the hugely popular Lisa Bobbert and Aaron McIlroy have created a highly humorous, nonsense-filled and entertaining programme in their latest show which opened tonight at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre.
In Reality Bites, they place two of their most well-known oddball characters – the wannabe glamour-queen Charmaine Siringinson and her dof husband Bruce – in a make-over reality show. The genial host is DJ KingB, alias Nathan Redpath, a welcome addition to the local theatre scene.
The setting is the final episode of the reality show where the audience meets Charmaine and Bruce dressed in outlandish outfits and twice their normal shape. The fat suits are soon discarded and we follow them as they become more stylish. Charmaine laments that sponsorship has not been forthcoming and powers-that-be have axed the show for a new show called Extreme Fishing.
From Aaron, we get characters such as Terry the Terminator going through Bruce’s wardrobe with Nathan standing by with a pair of scissors to cut up the offending articles he discards. There’s also the suave Dr Preston Blackwood-Smythe, not to mention the lovable rogue Vijay Moodley and Nigel Bjorn van Rensburg who is now convinced that the aliens are living in people’s teeth. Lisa’s Charmaine is always a delight as was her Thandi Makhathini and the lugubrious car guard Delphine. We’ve seen all these whacko numbers before but they still draw the laughs and, looking around the audience, I could see that a large number of new Bobbert/McIlroy fans were hooked tonight.
Anyone who can hold their own against the combined Bobbert/McIlroy powerhouse needs to be taken seriously and Nathan Redpath more than fits the bill. With good comedy skills and a capacity for different accents, he is a good foil for their zaniness.
Along the way, there are some popular musical numbers like Simply Irresistible; New York, New York; Dancing Queen (in which Lisa attacks a cymbal with several high kicks). Where these two get their energy from is a mystery but if a way could be found to package it, you could probably run an entire household for a day during a power cut. I doubt they understand the meaning of load-shedding! The set is as hectic as the performers – with lime green and dark red stairs and cubed furniture adding to the visual mayhem.
Reality Bites runs at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre until March 7. Tickets R95 available through Computicket, on 083 915 8000, or online at www.computicket.co.za Early booking is advised. – Caroline Smart
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