Garry Starr returns, showing off everything… and I mean everything. After sell-out runs in 2018, 2022, and 2024, Damien Warren-Smith’s shamelessly silly alter ego returns with Classic Penguins: a highbrow-meets-lowbrow, mostly naked whirlwind through the entire Penguin Classics library. Yes, every single one. Or at least a raucously unhinged version of them.
Armed with nothing but a top hat and bright orange penguin flippers, Starr hurtles from The Little Prince to Moby Dick, turning classic plots inside out with pure chaos. The staging is minimal: just a projection of each book cover as the next “victim”, because nothing can compete with Starr himself.
The nudity is there from the start, but Starr is a pro at keeping it cheeky rather than creepy. Audience participation is constant, yet handled with admirable care. No one is dragged unwillingly into the spotlight, and volunteers often become the heroes of the scene. And yes, that includes the moment he surfs across the crowd, completely starkers. I can confirm this personally — I was one of the people holding him aloft by his bare bum cheeks, and it’s possibly the most unexpected thing I’ve ever done in the name of theatre.
The madness doesn’t stop there. There’s a grape-feeding moment that’s half-seductive, half-absurd, and a full-blown on-stage food fight that leaves everyone howling. It’s anarchic, unpredictable, and just the right amount of unhinged, the kind of show you leave wondering what on earth just happened.
If you’re looking for literature’s finest works filtered through a fever dream, Garry Starr: Classic Penguins is unmissable. Just be prepared for the possibility of close-quarters penguin proximity.
Garry Starr: Classic Penguins is running until 25 August (not 18) at Udderbelly at Underbelly, George Square. Strictly 18+.
Get your tickets here.
Image by Dylan Woodley, provided to The Student as press.