Book Club, a new endeavour from PlaySpace Theatre Company, is a promising monthly comedy variety show format that combines a love of all things literary with music, performance and stand-up in the dim setting of the Dragon’s Den Social Lounge.

Six performers, in a variety of styles, present a ‘reading’ of sorts, or something related to a book that’s made an impression on them, however tangentially. It’s a neat conceit that, at its best, offers some engaging and surprising treats. It’s still finding its feet though, and this second iteration of the event – ‘chapter two’ – is quite uneven.

Dry, self-deprecating comedian Ray Shipley acts adeptly as MC. They take as their starting point and comedic through-line some particularly naff public speaking books from the library, and tease out their absurdity.  Shipley works hard to warm up a crowd that’s keen and supportive but a little tepid, and mostly clustered near the back of the space due to the bar’s geography. 

The first half of the show is a little off-kilter and uncertain, and it never seems to find its rhythm. I question whether there’s been much consideration to the running order of the acts. PlaySpace co-director Victoria McCreanor, who confesses to have been knocked down by a cold, opens with a reading of William Blake’s poem ‘Auguries of Innocence’ that’s a little flat and without the light and shade needed to shape something so long and portentous. It’s a dour and somewhat confusing way of starting the night, and I’m left wondering what the nature of the event is. 

The next two acts are comedians who, while promising, are a little green. Elliot McKenzie presents a reading of Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘The Raven’, performed as someone who is reciting it internally while trying not to orgasm prematurely while having sex with a partner. The combination of paroxysms of desire with ‘nevermore!’ is an interesting hook, but I am not sure about the development of his persona. (High status or low? Douchebag or not douchebag?) Jessica Jean arrives as her vapid, party-girl character Mackenzie McKenzie. This is a narcissistic persona with huge potential, who’s powered by rosé fumes, a combination of extreme self regard and self-loathing, and extreme vocal fry. She reads from her new self-penned self help book between swigs of wine, but again, never seems to get a feel for timing.

The second half better showcases the potential of the format, and the three performers have a much stronger connection to the audience. Musician Thomas Klever presents a terrific solo version of Led Zeppelin’s ‘Ramble On’ (a Lord of the Rings connection, naturally) on electric guitar. He’s a low key but very engaging performer, and at the end of the night someone shouts that they want him back on stage. Poet Reuben Todd slides dryly between stand-up set and formal reading as he performs some of his own work. He has a compelling stage presence, and he knows how to leverage stillness and silence as storytelling tools in a manner that plays with tension and release.

The headliner is charismatic musician Moses Robbins, who gives us some background on his relationship to books – the best sort of entertainment while growing up in a Christian cult that abhorred popular entertainment – before walking us through the plot of his chosen text, a little Golden Book from the 1940s called Scuffy the Tug Boat. Is the moral of the story about chasing your dreams, being okay with failure, paternalistic divine intervention, or just bailing back to mum and dad’s when the going gets tough? Who knows, but using a guitar and a loop pedal he offers a melancholy, yearning and atmospheric musical reimaging of the book. It’s excellent. Next time can he do a post-rock version of the Saggy Baggy Elephant?

This month’s Book Club is a somewhat wobbly night, albeit one that finishes up very strongly, but with better curation, a clearer connection to the audience, and a greater sense of consistency it’s clear that this could become a welcome regular performance fixture, and one that showcases diverse artistic talent.  

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