Anagram fans amongst you will have spotted an anagram for “poetry” in the tile of this show (hint: it’s not “Mr Bleak and”) and indeed extolling the virtues of poetry is what this show is all about.
The show, written by Elizabeth Honey, tells the story of Mr Bleak, a dreary office worker who detests flagrant overuse of words, particularly poetry, the very mention of which causes him to have an allergic reaction. A series of events leads Mr Bleak to arrive in a school on Poetry Day, or, as it is renamed so as not to inflame Mr Bleak’s allergy, Etryop Day.
“Mr Bleak and the Etryop” is a kid’s show, and kids, with their uninhibited natures, can be both the best and worst of audiences. Indeed one of the funniest moments in the show I saw was a spontaneous exclamation from a boy in the front row. However kids can be distracted easily too and the cast of this show does well to capture their attention for the bulk of the performance, which is just over an hour long. There were a few of moments of threatened anarchy from the small audience members but the show always pulled the focus back
This is a fun show and I found myself enjoying it all the way through, especially moments of perfectly executed physical humour from Nick Maxwell as Mr Bleak, and a recurring ambulance joke. The cast perform well and with high energy and the writing is tight enough to sustain the interest of a room full of kids for an hour. This is a show that kids can enjoy and while also delivering a message about the importance and beauty of words.
Mr Bleak and the Etryop runs daily at 11am until the 14th april at Gasworks. For full details check out the Comedy Festival Website