It was a dark and stormy night, just through the ‘Kids Zone’ of the Pleasance Courtyard, and Belfast-based couple Colm McCready and Fergus Wachala-Kelly were sitting atop camping chairs, brooding over their relationship.
But then! In comes Storm Seamus, a mighty powerful weather event forcing the couple to confront their relationship via the medium of British 2000s TV: and so, a wonderful hour of heartfelt, hilarious, and — homosexual — comedy ensues.
McCready and Wachala-Kelly are exceptional as Adam and Stevie, a perfectly comedically matched pair with a dynamic best captured by their respective pyjamas — a Wizard of Oz T-shirt and Snow White bottoms for Adam, and a plain-as-anything blue and checkered set for Stevie. SHAME SHOW’s central drama revolves around their differing experiences of shame: shame brought on from their Christian and Northern Irish upbringing, shame from heteronormativity, and shame from within themselves.
The majority of the performance, however, is a riotous rotation of perfectly pitched pop culture references (think The X-Factor 2009, drag icon Divine, Maxxie from Skins). A crucial component of SHAME SHOW is the video projections behind the stage: an incredibly well-done montage of the camp and sometimes creepy nature of British daytime TV, really quite reminiscent of documentarian Adam Curtis’ work. We have glitchy screens, pixelated movie scenes, and a slightly eerie voiceover – all works wonderfully together.
Throughout, there is also an undercurrent of heavy feeling that is continually displaced and buried under sock-puppetry or hurling or Sex and The City 2 until it’s all pushed to the forefront, in a classic emotional reckoning. This is a comedy-drama, for sure.
Particular highlights include when the pair delve into character comedy and impersonations — Wachala-Kelly’s demonic Gollum-esque Phil from Location Location Location is as superb as it sounds. McCready is amazing as Anne Robinson, shifting frostily across the stage in a blazer and wig. The couple are SINGERS, as well, with an incredible and inventive rendition of ‘Belle of Belfast City’: the finale’s musical performance is something to behold, too (no spoilers).
Ultimately, as SHAME SHOW reminds us: don’t make unnecessary journeys! Unless that journey is to see SHAME SHOW at The Green, which is very necessary.
SHAME SHOW is running until 25 August at The Green at Pleasance Courtyard.
Buy tickets here.
Image courtesy of James Ward, provided to The Student as press