Above: (l-r) Sh!t Theatre’s Louise and Becca have had quite the holidays in Malta.
This Sydney Fringe show introduces us to Louise and Becca, a likeable pair of Brits on a series of revealing holidays in Malta.
This observant duo share their meeting with colourful expats down ‘The Pub’, their exposure to Malta’s hybrid language and a fun, character-filled time in this beautiful, timeless environment.
As an audience we share their rum, some anecdotes of friends and signature one-liners from pub regulars. Amidst the caricatures of the local drinking buddies, with quirky humour, are quick scene changes, some great harmonisations in short song fragments and visual humour that works.
But the travellers soon realise that something is rotten in the state of Malta. Their comedic, quasi-cabaret dinghy takes an abrupt turn to the politcial.
Sydney audiences are somewhat bombarded with an expose of the class issues, corruption, terrorism and an unwelcoming country response to refugees from Libya.
The refugee crisis to an Australian and Sydney audience is hardly new territory. Nor is bad treatment of activists – however the change of tack for Louise and Becca as they regale us of some horrors is the stuff of which tragi-comic shows with a message are made of.
The highlighting of these real problems- from passports on sale right through to car bombs in the apparently idyllic Malta may not be the light and riotous romp the advertised expat-drinking scenario suggests. However the descent into the political is earnest, necessary and compelling.
This frenetic doco of corruption and cruelty comes complete with live dog, inflatable props, personal sharing on relationships and aquaintances and a plethora of projected headlines, images and written commentary as rapid-fire as the spoken and sung show text.
Louise and Becca are clever players and raconteurs using multimedia, alcohol and song to the advantage of their cause.
This is a cause which grows subtly, slowly and surely out of their travel diary. This itinerary will surprise and unsettle some viewers in for a light Fringe Show night, with its hard-edged intent by the end of the show. It is, however, how life, how the detritus from the EU and how digging beneath any postcard’s veneer will go.
There is contagious energy in this show, audience participation, good costuming and fine use of the theatre space in this, a show- with-protest attached.
Drink Rum With Expats has a mix of theatricality. The serious versus flippant storytelling has a shock value and an interesting swoop towards the final comment and raison d’être.
Whatever the Maltese word is for ‘impressionable, reactionary holiday turned humanitarian hell’ , you may well feel like painting it on your forehead in solidarity following event.
Drink Rum With Expats plays at New Theatre Newtown until Sep 28
