Matinee

An entertaining piece of dramatic performance presented exactly at midday, Matinee more than lives up to its name. For just over an hour five performers bring a host of classic movie moments to life through physical theatre, in a cheeky nod to all the clichés of cinema.

In the opening sketch a narcissistic superhero pauses on his one-man mission to save mankind in order to rescue his love interest, who has been kidnapped by a pimpled newspaper boy-turned-King Kong. In the following clips a kung fu warrior learns an important lesson from a new master, a detective seeking revenge tracks down the elusive criminal Déjà-Vu and a young girl in New York suffers a night of the living dead.

The brilliance of the performance lies in the way the characters and genres are so successfully recreated using just body movements and occasional dialogue. Sporting tight black leotards the actors perform the characters, sound effects, scenery and props in a fast-paced journey through all the landmarks of Hollywood – there’s even the lion’s roar at the end of the show.

Of course, the dependence on imitation for the show to succeed means that—aside from a few light-hearted twists—this production cannot be described as original. Towards the end it all becomes a little too easy to anticipate, with the final horror sketch descending into an uncomfortably predicable ‘Thriller’ dance. However, the imagination that has gone into the imitation makes this show a hugely enjoyable piece of afternoon entertainment.