(Ian von Memerty &
Gino Fabbri)
A comparatively new face to Durban audiences is comedian-singer-guitarist-drummer
Gino Fabbri who is well-known on the Johannesburg corporate entertainment
circuit.
On the other hand, Ian von Memerty has been a
much-loved and popular visitor to Durban stages for many years.
As owner of the nationally successful production
company Centrestage, Fabbri approached Von Memerty last year and the pair
produced an Elton John show together which toured the Eastern and Western Cape.
Common & Class is a further
collaboration which is set to tour South Africa.
The show opened last night at the Elizabeth Sneddon
Theatre to an energetically responsive audience.
The stage is bare apart from a grand piano and a
stool, with glittering curtains at the back of the stage changing colour as good
lighting effects alter with the sequences.
Elegantly dressed and speaking with an upper-class
British accent, von Memerty is Class (that’s his name!), a snooty performer
with attitude. He smoothly moves into his first number, Beyond the Sea, only to
be interrupted by a gawkish individual in bright red shiny trousers and a
wildly-patterned shirt. This is Common (his name comes from his mother’s cry of
“Come ON!” as he was being born). If there is a word he can mispronounce, he
does just that, much to the audience’s delight.
It turns out that Common intends sharing the show with
Class but Class vehemently refuses. However, when he discovers that Common’s
relatives - Bliksem, Moer and Klap - will live up to their names and do Class some
serious injury, he reluctantly agrees to continue the show with this unwelcome
partner.
What follows is a complete madcap mix-up of well-known
songs of different cultures, with the long-suffering Class playing classical
pieces and Common bouncing around to pop songs, Boeremusiek and hiphop with wild uncoordinated gestures. Some of the
medleys have little more than a phrase linking the numbers.
I felt the drag sequence, Kimono Dragon, could have
been shortened as could the scene where von Memerty and Fabbri play two old
codgers sitting and chatting about old age and its problems.
This is a very different von Memerty from the one we
know, but his dance skills are certainly showcased in this production. From
high kicks to hip-wriggling, he still impresses. One of the highlights of the show was his performance of Sweet Transvestite from The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
If you enjoy loads of fun and utter nonsense in an evening of nutty escapism, then this one is for you!
If you enjoy loads of fun and utter nonsense in an evening of nutty escapism, then this one is for you!
Common & Class runs at
the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre until February 17, 2019. Performances Tuesdays to Saturdays at 19h30 with matinees on Saturdays
and Sundays at 15h00. Booking is through Computicket. – Caroline Smart
The production will move on to Johannesburg, Cape
Town, Somerset West and George. Fabbri is due to perform a one-man show at Suncoast’s
Barnyard Theatre in Durban in April.