'Nautilus' by Trygve Wakenshaw - Review

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Fri 27 Jan 2017 - Sat 04 Feb 2017

Clowns make me nervous, mime artists even more so.
I can't trace this irrational fear back to anything other than a couple of poorly chosen birthday entertainers in my formative years, but I know I'm not alone. If you're anything like me, you could be forgiven for being less than enthusiastic about seeing a fringe show that has both clowning and miming at its heart. If you're hesitant about climbing in the passenger seat of Trygve Wakenshaw's new vehicle, 'Nautilus', don't be. This show is no clown jalopy. It's a submarine and it's set to take you from the surface, down to surreal depths, in a matter of seconds.


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The native New Zealander trained at the prestigious Phillipe Gaulier school and since then his shows have succeeded in gaining enormous international critical acclaim. Nautilus is the last in a trilogy, following on from 'Squid boy', that won the Total Theatre award at the Edinburgh festival 2013 and 'Kraken' which swooped best comedy at both the Adelaide and Perth festivals in 2015. His new persona in Nautilus is a far cry from the lycra-clad buffoon of Kraken. This character is a slick suited, silver haired lounge lizard, playfully edgy, who cavorts and contorts his elastic frame through 75 minutes of bizarre comedy so perfect, it often leaves you unsure if Trygve is a man who thinks he's a cartoon or a cartoon who thinks he's a man. Either way, the results are both hilarious and thought provoking.


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There is no doubt that Wakenshaw has a mastery over his physicality that is dazzling, but it is his refreshing filter-free imagination, that contains the real genius. Throughout the show, he constantly changes tack with satisfyingly intricate characters that suffocate you with laughter. He's a disgruntled Rapunzel, a man in love with a chicken, a dinosaur, a cowboy, a caterpillar, he's Aretha Franklin. In this manner, he pinballs you relentlessly through his spectacular world of 'what if' and whilst he paralyzes you with laughter, he's simultaneously poking away at the darker corners of your subconscious. Although he lays bare the flaws in humanity, he's quick to give you permission to play, to be surprised, to laugh at the grotesque traits you recognise. He is quick to smile conspiratorially, shrug and reassure you that the human condition is indeed laughable.


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Nautilus is a many chambered shell of delights, where the internal machinery of Wakenshaw's psyche is as fascinating as the characters he conjours up from its depths. The performance propels itself beautifully and effortlessly to a finale that is so perfectly clever you won't see it coming, but I promise you will love it.
Tickets and bookings here

#comedy
#shows
#theatre
#january
!date 27/01/2017 -- 04/02/2017
%wnperth