At this year’s Fringe, Vanessa Bennett has become a Bodysnatcher , inhabiting a range of different characters to tell some extended stories.
In a unique concept, each audience member was required to bring an object into the theatre and place it on a table. Those who forgot to bring their own were invited to select from a box of donated trinkets that was placed on the bar. A wide selection was offered to Vanessa. Some punters assumed their offering had to be of personal significance, demonstrated by a ring that was placed upon the table. Others opted for the “what junk do I have in my pocket/handbag?” mindset, offering a chocolate bar and a condom (thankful unused and still in its’ wrapper).
After a brief welcome from Vanessa, she assumed the persona of a Psychic Channeller who looked through the items on offer. Each punter identified themselves as each object of inspiration was shown, with the Channeller making comments on the person’s personality. This gave her the opportunity to warm up her impro skills with some witty banter. This was pretty much the only verbal participation required of the audience and was very non threatening and playful. This character re emerged at the end of the show as a bookend. The items used in the show were returned to their owners while she dispatched some words of advice that related to the stories in some way.
Using a stage blackout and a suitably spooky soundtrack (which was composed by Jillian Alder) that reinforced the Bodysnatcher theme, Vanessa launched into the first of three scenes that related to an object. The actual item sometimes seemed to contribute little to the story itself, only being referred to once or twice during a piece. It instead did the job of creating opportunities for Vanessa to work a few amusing lines into the tale.
I was thoroughly entertained by the pieces but was a little disappointed that the structure was almost the same for each. Each character presented a monologue to the audience about moments in their life, one of which directly referenced the object. Apart from the fantastic miming of an old woman making the lengthy and arduous trip to the mailbox and back, there wasn’t a great deal of movement in the performances. Vanessa instead chose to let the words be the focus while making excellent use of facial expressions and small gestures to bring the characters to life. She is indeed a brilliant storyteller using the perfect mix of drama and comedy to draw the audience into the tale.
Seated behind the mixing desk I noticed that the Tech’s hands hovered above the console as a scene was drawing to a close. This seemed to indicate that she was either providing as subtle hint to Vanessa that the scene was almost out of time, or knew exactly when a scene would finish. The latter seemed most likely as some degree of scripting would be required for a solo impro show. Even though the impro purist in me was screaming “but that’s cheating!”, the reality was that pre planning ensured that the stories presented were as coherent and economical as possible. It would be awesome to see someone perform without this safety net but it would be insanely difficult and easily result in a rambling mess. Vanessa’s stories were punchy and well paced with nicely rounded conclusions.
Bodysnatchers was a great show that kept the punters enthralled. Vanessa was able to show off her well honed impro, stand up and straight acting skills while demonstrating an exciting new impro format that has plenty of potential.