Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
Cast: Bryony Corrigan, Dave Hearn, Henry Lewis, Charlie Russell, Jonathan Sayer, Henry Shields, Greg Tannahill, Nancy Zamit.
A premise that not only captivates, which not only makes you laugh but makes you sweat with enthusiasm for the stunts performed, that is the point of physical theatre and comedy taken to its most natural and exhilarating high.
The team behind The Goes Wrong Show have taken their hugely successful stage performances and turned them into a television series which has surely garnered admiration and quite possibly the green eyed monster of jealousy, and to whom the best of the anarchic productions, 90 Degrees, was left till last.
It takes sheer guile, determination and arguably the ability to play the part of the surprised and the fool hardy and in 90 Degrees that sense of spirit, of wanting to push the boundaries of expected physicality played out with sensational and stimulating prowess. To undertake such a feat of defying gravity, or at least poking two well intentioned fingers up at it and then allowing it to respond in kind, that takes sheer and unremitting style to which arguably they have no current equal on television.
Across the series there have been moments in which the members of the group have stood out individually, the application of the team ethic is such that each actor has had their chance to shine, however, in the final episode of the series, it should be recognised that the nature of the play was one that required a bonding that proves the brilliance of the writing, of the direction and of the submission to the cause. From the trust needed in Bryony Corrigan’s and Henry Shields performance inside the upturned set, to the mischievous use of the talking dog by Dave Hearn and Henry Lewis, this was a performance that many might never have seen before, one of calm panic wrapped up in the beauty of timing and the truth of daring possibilities.
Sublime and perfectly crafted, The Goes Wrong Show – 90 Degrees is an antidote for the hours of beige and banal that passes for comedy in the 21st Century.
Ian D. Hall