Summary
This take on social media has much to Like but not enough to be a Favourite.
Summary
This take on social media has much to Like but not enough to be a Favourite.
Figs in Wigs latest offering Show Off is nothing if not diverse. In a comment on our generation’s shallow digital existence, the act transforms constantly throughout its 60 minute run time, encompassing dance, visual art, circus, stand up comedy, and culminating with the formation of a new five-piece band.
This is one visually arresting quintet with garish make-up and an array of costumes, including some fetching cow onesies complete with udders. They can hula hoop with the best of them. They deliver punchlines with superb comic timing and their music is pleasingly sparse and surprisingly melodic – if Smack The Pony had ever ripped off the band Robots In Disguise, it might sound a bit like this. Figs in Wigs have created their own genre and placed themselves just outside of it, they quip. Exactly what that genre is is hard to say. Show Reelism?
It’s disappointing that while billed as a show about social media and narcissism, Show Off has nothing to say about either. It suffers from a lack of coherence – the blurb suggests this is a deliberate act, highlighting our collective depleted attention span: the notion that something must be constantly changing in order to retain our interest. In this case I would say the opposite was true as I found myself desperately searching for a point to grab onto as it flitted between genres, or fighting boredom just waiting for something to happen. Fittingly for a show about the digital age, it spends a lot of time buffering.
Despite its problems, it would be churlish to say this isn’t an enjoyable evening – I did laugh, though I wasn’t always sure why. When taking the mic, each individual Fig is charismatic and entertaining gives good face. These are clearly five funny women, but Show Off is sadly less than the sum of its parts. They have created a show for the digital age but not about it, so it inevitably feels a little shallow.
Figs in Wigs: Show Off. Soho Downstairs (21 Dean Street, London, W1D 3NE). Fri 1 – Mon 4 May. £10.00-12.50. www.sohotheatre.com
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