Canberra Theatre
Season
closed
Reviewed by Samara Purnell
Put
eight English and Irish lads in a pub (even a staged pub, but with real,
flowing beer) and what do you expect to happen? Well, that too, but for the
most part it’s songs and music, performed by the self-appointed pub choir.
Welcome
to ‘The Jungle’, the pub where “The Choir of Man” takes the very simple premise
of blokes gathering at the local to bond, pull chicks, celebrate, ruminate,
urinate and…tap dance.
The
songs performed throughout the show were drawn from a plethora of genres. The
audience was allowed to marvel again at the musical complexities of Queen,
enjoy a funny rendition of Adele’s “Hello” and Wham’s “Wake me up”. And
speaking of up, the audience was up and down all night - certainly a result of
allowing them on stage for an ale at the beginning of the evening
and subsequently handing around beverages during the show.
The audience mingles onstage, with beers from the pub set
It
wasn’t just the audience members requiring relieving, as several numbers played
out in a make-shift urinal – a clever set design, for a sequence that had the
audience in stitches. Thankfully this didn’t include audience participation,
which was enlisted to help build a house of cards, or be wooed, becoming the
object of affection, for the duration of the song, at least. A pina colada,
some ridiculous choreography, a trumpet and a mop for props kept participants and
onlookers amused and entertained.
Possibly
the most hilarious and frustrating sing-a-long yet, to The Proclaimers’ “I’m
Gonna Be (500 miles)” kept the piano player’s “mates” and the audience on their
toes. And a very good piano player he was too. Also impressive was the tap
dancing, albeit occasionally performed for the most part by just one of the
guys.
Some
of the other instrumental accompaniments were less convincing than the piano
playing. A significant part of the show was plagued with mic and sound issues –
late entries and mics cutting out - definitely noticeable but not enough to ruin
songs or stories altogether.
“Chandelier”
was a harmonic highlight despite a couple of the highest notes sounding
strained. The harmonies were beautiful and wide-ranging and the slowed-down,
pared-back arrangement made for an impressive rendition. A poignant cover of The Kink’s “Waterloo
Sunset” was very moving.
In
a melancholic moment, and topical for today’s audiences, the narrator of the
group bemoaned the shutting down of pubs and relationships, as iconic watering
holes, live music and bonding is replaced by sterile, high rise apartment blocks
and lonely living.
This choir of men
tapped into the two things that will get any Aussie audience eating out of the
palm of your hand – free beer and Johnny Farnham, then summed it all up with
“Some Nights”, a song already primed for harmonies, with a thumping beat and rousing
English band sound.
“The Choir of Man”
was sweet, fun and unpretentious. It wasn’t perfect and it wasn’t meant to be.
Love, loss and harmless shenanigans played out via song, stories and
choreography.
As they said: “Some
nights it’s five pints and forget, other nights it’s two teas and a talk.”
This night in “The
Jungle” makes you want to stick around for that second drink…
