And Then There Was Fun

So, having set the scene (I may have forgotten about the wall of dolly faces covering the bathroom walls, the strategically placed potty, the Beano comics and the red water bath floating candles and rubber ducks) I shall introduce you to the characters at play.

patsy-whee

Patsy-Whee was running riot, wheedling the guests into playing games with her, and teasing the poor Nerd. The Nerd (all high-top pants and patched up glasses) was hiding behind his copy of The Twits and telling tales to Matron.

through the eyes of the nerd

Matron was running tricks in her tight black get up, red nails and hat. Guests soon came to understand this to be some kind of children’s home where the kids weren’t always treated with the utmost kindness.

the matron - control

After some time a story was told to the children “gather round…. They fuck you up your Mum and Dad” to which Patsy-Whee responded by singing I Wanna Be Evil, all the while tormenting the poor Nerd to within an inch of his life. Singing in such a small space (there were 25 attendees, a perfect number as it turned out) was a joy, unmiked, really being able to sing to each and every person.

i wanna be evil

The Nerd then rocked it with his poem, The Way of the Nerd, telling of the dreams and tribulations of Nigeria’s first cowboy. Spying from a bedroom the look of charmed affection on the faces of the audience pulsed me a warm glow and it felt Very Right to be here and now. There’s certainly something more special about performing to people in  home, I guess it felt for them more of a treat, more like it was jut for them.

the way of the nerd

Patsy-Whee stormed back on the scene, chasing the Nerd away and enacting for the audience her very first sexual fantasy. Now this was a tricky one to play but somehow it seemed to have been pitched just right, the audience enticed and shocked in equal measure. The transition was made far smoother by Shane Solanki’s reading a portion of the book “Childhood and Adolescence” reassuring that masturbation is in fact entirely natural and if supressed during childhood could lead to “true perversion”. Thank goodness for that, then.

solanki and sons - child psychologists

to be continued…..

Tags: acting, bars, burlesque, cabaret, childmares, clubs, dance, devised theatre, dolls, music, nightlife, patsy cole, performance, physical theatre, singing, songs, spotlight, theatre