WANTED. Blaze of Glory
Circus Bar 17b Allen Street, Wellington
19/06/2020 - 20/06/2020
Production Details
Fringey theatre duo George Fenn and Austin Harrison return to the stage for double serve of experimental comedy goodness for two nights only! Join us down at Circus Bar on 19th and 20th June 2020 and get your chuckle on, as comedy returns to Wellington!
WANTED. Blaze of Glory
At 8pm, Stage Maverick George Fenn returns to Circus Bar for the fresh comedy “hell no” known as WANTED. Blaze of Glory, an entire comedy show speaking only in Bon Jo Vi Lyrics. George is a critically acclaimed Alt Comedian and Theatre Maker known for their innovative humour solution.
George has performed a great deal of work around Wellington in Theatres, Bars, Buses, and the narrow crawl space between two newly constructed apartment buildings off Victoria Street. In 2017 they won the Spirit of the Fringe Award at the NZ Fringe. Since then they have been crafting and touring five distinct solo shows across the country.
George is in town leading the Loemis festivals solstice ritual and effigy burning. Come down to Freyberg beach park for a delightful secular moment to contemplate the beginning of brighter times.
WANTED. Blaze of Glory is part of a double-bill called Now’s Good at
Circus Bar, 17b Allen Street, Te Aro, Wellington
19 & 20 June 2020
8pm.
EMAIL: info@circusbar.co.nz
Phone: 04 2139872
The other production is Magnus Steele.
Come on down to Circus Bar from 6:15pm and make a night of it by grabbing a double pass to see both shows! We can’t wait to see you there!
MAGNUS STEELE
Earlier, at 6:30pm Austin Harrison returns with his sellout fringe hit Magnus Steele!
Infamous private eye Magnus Steele investigates the crime of the century through interrogations, jazz, and beat poetry, but here’s the catch: all the victims, suspects, and witnesses are played by YOU! Come prepared for hilarity, bad accents, and to be a part of the show!
“The show is reminiscent of Brooklyn Nine Nine, if they let me join in from my sofa. In other words it’s witty, unpredictable and wonderfully endearing and the jokes are pretty cool. Cool, cool, cool.” – Sara Hirsch, Art Murmurs
“Appropriately hatted” – Margaret Austin, Theatreview
“A Masterclass in crowd work” – – Sara Hirsch, Art Murmurs
Season producer/publicist: Austin Harrison
Theatre , Solo , Physical ,
Intelligent inventiveness and impelling intrigue
Review by Margaret Austin 20th Jun 2020
A solo show can be created from almost anything, and alt-artist George Fenn’s Wanted. Blaze of Glory is an extreme example. Taking place at the Circus Bar, this theatrical piece avowedly “speak[s] only in Bon Jo Vi lyrics” (aka Bon Jovi lyrics), which probably explains the lip synching by Fenn before the actual show.
Late arriving audience members are directed with a look and a beckon. I’m getting the impression of quiet control, obviously relished by the Fenn fans present.
This kind of control originates from an admirable creative confidence. Fenn doesn’t utter an intelligible word till ten minutes in. I’m bemused. I’m not sure if I’m being stared down or stared at. Maybe both.
But I don’t mind, as Fenn’s stagecraft provides a constant source of intrigue. “I’m a cowboy – and I’m wanted” becomes a theme, muttered regularly from beneath the hat and the hair. There are other references to Bon Jovi lyrics, picked up by my much savvier companion but you don’t have to be familiar with them to enjoy the show.
Fenn fiddles with conventions, the microphone and our perceptions while his/Bon Jovi’s words ascend – or is that descend? – into a dissertation on love. The lyrics of ‘Take my Hand’ burgeon into an instruction we all enthusiastically take up. Reaching out to join in, I spill my wine and complain. “Bad” remarks Fenn.
By the end of the show, we’re all happy participants in Fenn’s world – even the bar staff. For intelligent inventiveness and impelling intrigue, it’d be hard to beat. Producer Austin Harrison – whose return season of Magnus Steele precedes Wanted. Blaze of Glory at 6.30pm – should be proud.
“Wanted: dead or alive,” Fenn reiterates. Many cowboys are dead; may cowboy George Fenn stay well and truly alive.
Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer
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