Turnmills Top Floor

Ebenezeer Goode   10-03-2008

Been to a couple of the stealth party and they're big... Friendly vibes, intense music ....just the way it should be!

Charlotte Browne, MyVillage   10-03-2008

Auntie and Me - February 08It�s clear from the outset that Kemp, (Graham Lappin) has not reached adulthood without acquiring the odd emotional problem. Upon arriving to see his dying aunt (Jennifer Thorne) who has written to tell him of her imminent death he declares: �I didn�t expect you to be pleased to see me. Hardly anybody ever is.�This doesn�t come as a surprise though. We learn of a childhood devoid of love or attention, with a mother who adored her cat more than him and a manic depressive father who led Kemp to think it was normal �for a man to dig their own grave in the back garden�. As the time passes, it becomes increasingly apparent to Kemp�s frustration that Auntie is not about to shuffle off the mortal coil as quickly as anticipated and the pair become resigned to each other�s presence, without quite fully understanding why.This black comedy, wonderfully written by Morris Panych and directed by Will Hammond, keeps us continually captivated by the character of Kemp throughout: a character who struggles with his own feelings of abandonment and inadequacies behind a veil of protective, caustic and repellent wit. Convinced that he is �asexual� and has no friends, or simply �does not like people�, he remembers the tutor he had as a child who would cuff him on the back of the neck, and remarks: �at least we had a relationship.� By giving up the possibility of being loved or loveable he has learnt not to rely on anyone and isn�t keen to take the risk and find out.Kemp is flippant and cruel in his observations about life and death, but also flags up their absurdities. He tells his Auntie he�ll do her autopsy to �get to know her a little better� and makes quips about her eulogy which he practises in front of her: �she liked eating butterscotch pudding and going to the bathroom�.However, as genuine and caring feelings develop towards his aunt he also has to come to terms with the painful paradox we all face with horror at some point: that when we risk loving we also risk having to watch the one we love die.Although the play deals directly with grandiose subjects, it manages not to be sentimental or schmaltzy due to layer upon layer of well-crafted irony and punch lines that come thick and fast: �What�s so great about cats anyway? If I licked my genitals I�d be sent to prison�.Lappin did a fantastic job of managing the difficult task of being virtually the only actor who speaks throughout the whole play, with only the expressions of his aunt to interact with. Thorne fantastically conveyed a variety of emotions: bewilderment, fear, patience and acceptance. They never lost the audience�s focus or distracted from the hidden, redeeming features in Kemp and the love we suspect he craves.Watch out for a brilliant twist too, which provoked a variety of pronounced reactions from the crowd. A great show, not to be missed!