WHAT musical opens with a lecture on genealogy?
A musical based on Richard Dawkins’ seminal work on the survival of the species, that’s which one. Sound dry? Don’t be fooled. The Selfish Gene is clever, and chances are you’ll come out of it having learned something, even as you are tapping your toes to the lecture song that taught it to you. Yes there are lecture songs, and just plain lectures, and a bit of wink-wink, nudge-nudge, but this isn’t just a funny show, it’s a funny educational show. And it’s a heck of a lot of fun.
BEX Productions, the team behind last year’s hit 2010 A Space Oddity, have the denim-bedecked Addamson family as their guinea pigs, as “Richard Dawkins” explains why their genetic make-up makes them act the way they do. “Genes, like diamonds, are forever!” Dawkins beams at one point. It’s pretty straightforward stuff, but it’s hilariously done. This is no pseudo lesson, it’s the real thing. There are some uneven moments, and those blasted skin mics let the cast down, but this is a genuinely funny, genuinely educational show.
Light opera at the zoo isn’t as loopy as it sounds, and this explanation even stands when you add in a chemist hilariously bent on suicide, a panda disguise and surprise royalty. Ably performed by Four Tarts and a Couple of Pears, the show centres around the love story between Laeticia, whose father disapproves, and a chemist who is bent on suicide should he be separated from his love. Never has attempted hanging been so funny, especially when the one trying to kill himself is belting out his woes in a trembling tenor.
In spite of its potentially dark subject matter The Zoo is a light-as-air, undemanding and jolly piece of musical theatre.
Scene of the Titans has a pertinent social message, but is no less undemanding in its approach. Telling the story of The Titans, Belfast’s first gay-friendly rugby team, is Faulty Productions’ charming, but flawed show. Based on a true story, the play has some funny moments, and some touching scenes (one involving the enigmatic Sophia, a flame-wigged drag queen who sets aside her quips to don the team jersey), but the script and the cast never quite reach their potential. Terry, the unwilling team captain is an attractive character, and Sophia is as beguiling as she is gifted, but the show suffers from the lacklustre performances of the rest of the cast.
There are some great songs, notably Let the Boy, but the gulf of talent, and some ill-placed moments (the mentioning of United Flight 93 is nothing if not completely out of place) make the Titans a mixed bag, rather than the big score.
The Selfish Gene: The Musical runs until tomorrow, The Zoo until Sunday, and Scene of The Titans until August 29.
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