London/Tour.
THE LADY’S NOT FOR WALKING LIKE AN EGYPTIAN
by nat tarrab and Rachel Mars.
The Albany Douglas Way Deptford SE8 4AG To 24 April 2015.
Runs 1hr 10min No interval.
Future dates – Barbican Theatre, Plymouth 6 November – www.barbicantheatre.co.uk ; Colchester Arts Centre 18 November www.colchesterartscnetre.com
TICKETS: 020 8692 446.
www.thealbanby.org.uk
Review: William Russell 23 April.
The Lady is for burning with offbeat humour.
Just what Margaret Thatcher did to deserve this very funny, off-the-wall tribute devised and performed by nat Tarrab and Rachel Mars is anybody’s guess. Nat was born in the eighties, Rachel was a teenager and somehow or other the Iron Lady seems to have affected them ever since.
Their show – it is not stand-up, not quite a revue – combines some of her finest moments with pop songs by female artists of the eighties, the pair encased in lycra, as befits the decade, changing into little smart Thatcher boxy suits to utter her words.
One thing is for sure, Thatcher is no idol of the sisterhood and with charm, some wit and considerable athleticism – watch the lanky one perch on top of a large step-ladder to denounce the Lady and tremble at the trepidation – they duly lay about her memory, right left and centre.
They are in appearance a sort of feminist Revnell and West, except that they are much too young to remember them – comediennes, probably familiar to the Lady, known as the long and the short of it since, like these two, that is what they were.
It is never quite clear what nat and Rachel will do next, especially once nat, the tall one, decides she has had enough of the Lady and wants to stop long before Rachel, the short one, who points-out reasonably there are lots of the Thatcher years still to cover.
Greenham Common, the miners strike, Clause 28, highlights of the Thatcher years, all feature in their review of times past but not forgotten, although not times necessarily as grim for all as they seem to have been for them.
All in all it probably helps to be a Feminist to fully relish the goings-on, and it is pushing things to suggest the Lady is responsible for fringe theatre not getting its share of the public purse. But there is no denying the ladies are beguiling, full of energy, and when nat and Rachel take to space hoppers to bounce around the stage, beware – they do accost the audience when it takes their fancy.
Performers: nat tarrab, Rachel Mars.
Designer: nat tarrab.
Lighting: Seth Rook Williams.
Sound: Dom Kennedy.
Movement Consultant: Imogen Knight.
Tour:
6 Nov Barbican Theatre Plymouth 01752 267131 www.barbicantheatre.co.uk
18 Nov 7.30pm Colchester Arts Centre 01206 500900 www.colchesterartscentre.com
2015-04-24 12:27:51
