Sh!t Theatre Drink Rum With Expats: ~ The Bar is Open! ~ Adelaide Fringe 2020 Review

[THEATRE/Performance Art ~ AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE ~ UK] The Studio – Holden Street Theatres, Thu 20 Feb. Every now and then a show comes along that totally encapsulates the spirit of the Fringe. Not a glitzy big production number, not acting of Shakespearean magnitude, but something fresh and totally disarming. Sh!t Theatre Drink Rum With Expats is such a show. The bar is open at The Pub in Malta, and to set the tone for a thoroughly welcoming and drunken evening, our hosts Rebecca Biscuit and Louise Mothersole serve us drinks as we enter the theatre. Despite the fact that they have done this show many times before, it still feels delightfully chaotic, as if the wheels could fall off at any moment. They never do of course, but such is the balance between careful scripting and improvisation that we are always being taken somewhere unexpected. Along the way we are given lots to laugh about, often at the expense of English actor and Maltese visitor Oliver Reed, but a number of darker issues to consider as well, including the murder of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, and the plight of Libyan refugees. As the usher taking our tickets comments, “I like a show that makes me laugh but gives me something to think about”. As I try to juggle my glass of wine with the fact that a human body is trying to crowd surf over the top of me, this is only one of several ‘Why is this happening?’ moments. Why are their faces painted like that? Why are they singing sea shanties? Were those bagpipes actually once a dog? Where is this going? You will not leave this show thinking you have seen a polished, virtuosic musical or theatrical tour de force. You will however, be thinking that you have witnessed a wonderful, wicked Fringe experience. Easily worth making the effort to see it!! 4.5 stars Adrian Miller Sh!t Theatre Drink Rum With Expats continues at The Studio at Holden Street Theatres, at various times, until Sun 15 Mar. Book at FringeTIX on 1300 621 255 or adelaidefringe.com.au. Click HERE to purchase your tickets. #ADLfringe #HST