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'Beautifully harmonised and, even better, mercilessly witty'
----------------------------------------------------------- 'Now I am going to be honest, a few friends and I were on our way back home from what they call 'town' here in the capital city of Scotland. This is when we approached the NewsRoom at the top of Leith Street. Having a quick glance at the posters, there was one us flies were attracted to more than any other.... “SH!T THEATRE” and so unplanned, we buzzed our way downstairs to land in on the show. What we landed on was an intimate room with two young ladies up on stage singing away about the dangers of Foxes. I myself have a paranoia regarding four legged gingers so I could relate to what they sang but in all seriousness the girls who turned out not to be called Bouise but instead Becca and Louise who infact are vegetarians were infact my little gems of the night. They deliver an act of current affairs satire that holds no prisoners with song and a great understanding of each other. From Prime Minister David Cameron to the dangers of Foxes via the Fox network, then next stop Sarah Palin hunting dinosaurs. I found myself laughing out loud and sometimes thinking “OOOFFTT, did they just say that?” but I still laughed, why.......??? Cos it was funny!! SH!T THEATRE is like a can of caffeine that instead of giving you wings, it gives you a green T-REX with a human face. I know.......... Check them out, wherever they play. You will laugh. ****/***** Stephen Young' ----------------------------------------------------------- 'To the Grosvenor pub in Stockwell last night for the anti-fascist benefit. ….and the laugh out load review act of ‘SHIT THEATRE’ – two women as funny as fucking fuck. They did an extended manic romp which had Fox News covering the fox scare stories of last year – y’know ‘fox stole my baby and ate it’ – with increasing build up of panic as new fox stories came in – ‘they marry each other’ - brilliant. Other highlights were the Ugg boots song …’Ugg boots – ugly like a feminist’ and the paen to the health work done by religious groups in Africa – ‘Thank heavens for Christian Aids’. Probably heading to the Edinburgh festival I should think but catch ‘em if you can.' ----------------------------------------------------------- 'Sh!t Theatre: Anything but In the basement of a random pub, hardly even listed we struck gold with the comedy duo Sh!t Theatre and their show "Sh!t Theatre present: More Sh!t". A female comedy duo with backgrounds in performance art, improv and music, their politically provocative sketches and songs had our varied audience all in stitches. Accompanied by a guitar and ukelele, the premise of their show is that they wrote themselves a 5 star review and worked backwards from it with a checklist, ticking as they went. This was punctuated with "commercial breaks" where they managed to mock everything from vegetarianism, with their rendition of Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" entitiled "Meat-free Dress", to Loreal. The "Sh!t" aesthetic to which they continually referred was achieved through their costumes being constructed from newspaper which inevitably also reinforced their focus on current affairs. This subtlety was characteristic of the whole show. The Lord's Prayer to Rupert Murdoch (which can now be seen on their facebook page) reeks of irony, something many comics have not been able to achieve surrounding the phone hacking scandals, preferring instead to take a more aggressive approach. They struck a great balance between continuity and variety, the through threads of the commercial breaks and checklist allowing them explore a number of different issues and tangents jumping between them without losing their audience challenging and commenting on everything from Burkahs to the Catholic stance on contraception. The pair push boundaries without relying on vulgarity or shock tactics unlike so many of the shows we see today. Frankly speaking, Sh!t Theatre shat all over their competition and were my comedic highlight of the Fringe.' ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
The Scotsman
('Sh!t Theatre present: SH!T THEATRE' Edinburgh Fringe 2010) Leith FM ('Sh!t Theatre present: SH!T THEATRE' Edinburgh Fringe 2010) 
Resonance FM's Ian Bone (The Stockwell Grosvenor 2011) The Cheap Seats ('Sh!t Theatre present: MORE SH!T' Edinburgh Fringe 2011) 
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Rounding off the day were Louise Mothersole and Becca Biscuit as the oddly named Sh!t Theatre. They’re a curious though immensely likeable duo who merge stand-up with physical theatre and biting socio-political satire.
Racism, the Olympic Games, our unpaid intern culture and unemployment all get their particular waspish treatment in their Edinburgh-bound show JSA (Job Seekers Anonymous). Wonderfully politically incorrect and insightful, JSA might not have much of a shelf-life post-Edinburgh, but is a cracking showcase for Mothersole’s and Biscuit’s weighty talents. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Suffolk based Sh!t Theatre brought their mix of humour, songs and employment-related hula hooping to the New Wolsey Studio last night. IP1’s Patrick Scott signs on for the review… Being unemployed sucks. You know it, and Sh!t Theatre know it too, which is why they’re here to help. Admittedly, their help is getting you to clear up after them as part of their ‘work placement’ scheme, but it’s a start. Sh!t Theatre’s JSA, in the wrong hands, could quite easily come across as a series of lectures of the state of unemployment today, but what makes it work is the confidence and delivery of Becca and Louise. Their tales of heart-break, aspirations and job seeking are as entertaining as they are informative, the use of props and (really quite impressive) hula-hooping skills providing simple and effective metaphors to the submerged feeling that they, and many others, have felt on the dole. Not that it’s all just talk- there’s a handful of musical numbers, ranging from a general election musical point system to the Burka song that’s not going to be played because it’s offensive (but they’re happy to show you what it would sound like if they did). All of this seams together perfectly and the result is a hugely entertaining show, whether you’re happily employed or living off Pop Tarts. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- As many performers beginning to think about taking work to Edinburgh, the other side of the acting equation plays on the mind of many others – Job Seekers Allowance. Sh!T Theatre’s latest work in progress looks at the performers relationship with this current political hot potato, but also looks at the wider issues of self-image, self-esteem and meeting parental expectation. This isn’t a too serious political examination though. Think of a long line of satirists such as Richard Stilgoe through Victoria Wood and you get the idea. Song and sketched combine to mock current political figures and events , with of course the current coalition coming in for particular venom. Clad in newspaper covered outfits and almost grotesque clown make up, Louise Mothersole and Rebecca Biscuit make for a disconcerting couple. Through sheer energy and charm though they guide us through the minefield of unemployment, government quotas and the credit crunch. Cameron, Clegg and Coe all come in for ribbing as The Olympic budget is contrasted with the meagre Job Seekers Allowance. It’s all gloriously non-politically correct, with songs about burkas and the deaths of prime ministerial children causing some uncomfortable laughter. As a work in progress there’s still some work to do on structure and the ending is still unfinished but it shows promising potential and, as a showcase for the performers, should ensure they don’t need to sign on too much longer. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pros: Fun, fast paced, topical and true. Uses slapstick to wonderful and meaningful effect. Cons: No clear message. Mainly focussed on the frustration of navigating the current benefits system rather than on seeking a job as the title suggests, even though it’s punalicious. Our Verdict: A really fun piece of theatre to watch as it uses the truth and personal experience to give an insight into the world of government support for the unemployed. Will be even better with more development. “So, what do you do?” I hate this question. It is not only lazy small talk but it makes you no more than your job. What if you don’t like your job? Or know that your job is boring to anyone who isn’t doing it? And what if you don’t have a job? How do you feel then? The latter is what Sh!t Theatre’s Job Seekers Anonymous explores with energy, hilarity and hulas. It is a wonderfully comic expression of exasperation that engages from start to finish. I can’t say there was a focal message to the show, but the overall feel from the performers (for lack of a program I’m going with their self-titled ‘Booise’) was that society blames the unemployed for being irresponsible. They effectively highlight how the jumble of government systems is a joke, and use slapstick in a way that makes you feel like they do: that you really do have to laugh. Otherwise you’ll cry. Jumble is also a good word to describe the show; it is a loveable jumble. There are so many ideas that the performers want the audience to understand, and so ardently, that you really do feel the frustration of their experiences. You leave the delightfully cosy theatre space agreeing that the system is a mess that blames the unemployed for their predicament. However, there is so much to take in that it was never quite clear what the message is rather than “AARGH”! There lacks a strong underlying foundation and they seem to have focussed on what they want to tell you rather than what they want you to hear. The strongest part of the show was the performers’ ability to affect the audience. From the mingling beforehand to the use of song (The Expect song is right on the nail). There were many points at which I laughed out loud and parts where I wanted to clap. I think Booise are going to be really fantastic performance-comedians because of their ability to connect with you, but it needs a little fine tuning. All the jokes were funny, but some went on a little too long. The show effectively built solidarity with the audience regarding their feelings of frustration. It reminds those who have been unemployed not to forget how hard it is and it shows people who’ve not experienced being out of work before that being unemployed doesn’t equate to not wanting to have value in society. The space was used well and the props were all wielded to perfectly illustrate their points (except perhaps PowerPoint once or twice at the start). The costumes were enjoyable, as they played with a mockery of idealised gender which supported their questioning into what was expected of them. Booise are masters at setting a pace, knowing when to speed up, slow down, break tension, hit the punchline and kept interest fervent throughout. It makes for a very entertaining show and some good fun. It’s nearly finished. They just need to figure out what it is they’re trying to say and be ruthless with the content untill they create comedy which is as clear as it is currently clever. |
WhatsOnStage ('Sh!t Theatre present: Sh!t Theatre's JSA (Job Seekers Anonymous' at the PULSE Fringe Festival, New Wolsey Studio, Ipswich 2012) ip1 Magazine ('Sh!t Theatre present: Sh!t Theatre's JSA (Job Seekers Anonymous' at the PULSE Fringe Festival, New Wolsey Studio, Ipswich 2012) The Public Reviews ('Sh!t Theatre present: Sh!t Theatre's JSA (Job Seekers Anonymous' at the PULSE Fringe Festival, New Wolsey Studio, Ipswich 2012) Everything Theatre (Sh!t Theatre present: Sh!t Theatre's JSA (Job Seekers Anonymous) at the PNPA Festival, Etcetera theatre, Camden 2013 |
