This piece of devised theatre is a joyous, wonderful and silly show, perfect for some good light-hearted fun. We follow our main character as he travels through the world on his dangerous, magical, and somewhat villainous quest to find mermaid Sirena and a can of Coke…
Every prop, piece of set and even some outfits in this show are made of cardboard and they create quite a mess throughout, the way this show is curated and the use of cardboard in the jokes creates uproarious laughter in the audience.
At the beginning of the show I thought maybe I hadn’t switched my brain on yet because I couldn’t understand a word our storyteller was saying. I soon realised I wasn’t alone and no one could understand – as the language he was speaking was made up of what seemed like every language muddled together.
The story is therefore told by our storytellers on stage sidekick who is running around rampant with cardboard props, impressions, and sound effects, playing every single role. An extremely physical and strenuous show for him, in contrast our storyteller doesn’t leave his stool once. The dynamic between these two is hilarious and they break the fourth wall many times to have a squabble or make backhanded remarks at one another.
This show is so particular with the crazy amount of cardboard and a constantly moving plot line, the work that it must take to set it up and keep up with the show backstage is unimaginable. The brilliance of this show and the great audience reaction must make it all worth it for the incredibly hard working backstage and production team.
My only issue was some of the jokes towards the end were a little bit tired and it was difficult to keep focus and enjoy it. The show is 1 hour and 15 and I feel that if they cut the show down to just an hour it would have been perfect. Nonetheless this show was like nothing I have ever seen before and a clever and hilarious take on comedy.
By Esmé Violet Anderson
The Ice Hole: A Cardboard Comedy
Pleasance Courtyard – The Grand
13:00
Aug 18-28
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/ice-hole-a-cardboard-comedy
