Oedipuss in Boots at The Wardrobe Theatre

Whenever I see that a play is produced by the Wardrobe theatre I know it’s going to be a treat and Oedipuss in Boots is most definitely a treat, particularly if you enjoy utter ridiculousness. A combination of Greek Myth, fairy tale, sexual deviance / the Oedipus Complex, physical theatre, tales from the Bible, King Herod, Moses and puppetry. 

The opening scene of the Council of Chris, comprised of the performers with squares of carpet as masks – it was bizarre and yet hilariously familiar representation of how laws and rules can be made by the feckless farcical people that govern. 

Harry Humberstone reminded me of Monty Python, with his multi-limbed characters, from being the mother of a flour sack to narcissistic king throwing a tantrum. His anarchic energy fizzed on stage and brought a level of joyful fear to the audience. 

Oedipuss is a cat, that believes he is human, he has a brother who is actually a sack of flour, his mother and father are not really his mother and father. Adam Blake who plays Oedipuss is (as usual) mesmerising, he embodies the physicality of a teenager and channels it into a puppet cat, rebelling and going on a journey of self-discovery and a quest for his personal identity. 

Trust me when I say there are scenes in this play that will be embedded in your mind for the rest of your life. I’m not going to give away the story, you just need to go and see the play – it’s utter genius – to the writing, devising and performing. 

Oedipuss in Boots is the kind of pantomime I want to see, a pantomime with highly skilled performer pushing convention to the edge, so it breaks and has to come back to the stage reformed with jagged edges that make you split your sides laughing. Go and see it. Go and see it. Go and see it – x 100000000.

See what else is on at The Wardrobe Theatre