In short, Pat Rascal: Space Gravy is a hilarious performance exploring the tale of Yorkshire being the first place to get to Mars. Exuding wit and intelligence, this show embodies everything necessary for a top tier performance at the Fringe as it is truly wacky, fun, and completely unexpected.
The show follows the tale of the protagonist named Yorkshire, who aspires to make the county of Yorkshire the first to reach Mars, in a spin-off from coming twelfth in the London 2012 Olympic Games. Through combining typical Yorkshire dialect and humour, the performance creates a narrative that includes all audience members as the jokes are accessible and understandable to all, even those who are not from God’s own country.
Cleverly, the performance wove in the audience in a skilful manner, that was not too much, but did also make the show immersive. This included acts such as throwing grapes into the casts mouths, throwing Yorkshire puddings, and a particularly hilarious moment where I ended up backstage, chasing one of the actors around with a space helmet made of tinfoil. Through this inclusivity, Pat Rascal: Space Gravy evoked a riveting and mesmerising environment.
The cast themselves adopted several roles made distinguishable to the audience through a wide variety of ridiculous accents and costume changes. From Greece to Bradford, the show demonstrated a range of cultural stereotypes in a refreshing manner that did not come across as tired at any point, yet rather constantly prompted laughter from the audience.
Furthermore, the cast highlighted the brilliance of the performance as they cohesively worked together, generating humour in an electric manner as joy radiated from the stage. They clearly portrayed that they love what they do, which is integral to creating a successful fringe show.
Overall, Pat Rascal: Space Gravy is a witty masterpiece which ingeniously combines many cultural jokes and references in a universally appealing manner. Additionally, it is simply a good time and a truly uplifting performance. I mean, who doesn’t enjoy throwing Yorkshire puddings at a supposed evil space villain?
Pat Rascal: Space Gravy is running till 24 August at 61 Iron Belly at Underbelly, Cowgate.
Buy tickets here.
Image courtesy of Bells Kennedy-Compston, provided to The Student as press material.
