Reviewer: Daniel Shipman
Upstaged Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
With an ever-increasing percentage of the population going to university, we are overdue some theatre which addresses the various rites of passage in this distinctive period of life. Step forward Ugly Bucket Theatre, a trio of graduates from Liverpool John Moores University who have crafted this exploration of post-uni blues (or Bost-Uni Plues) through the medium of clowning.
Having identified the fact that many people feel underwhelmed, intimidated or just plain lost in graduate life, the company have armed themselves with interviews of recent graduates and pulled laughs and comfort out of the sorrow. The ability to wrestle comedy out of a gloomy subject matter without ever seeming insensitive is an impressive tightrope act. Done badly, this could so easily have stifled the laughter, but it is a credit to the performer’s handling of the subject matter that the audience never felt uncomfortable laughing at what they were seeing and hearing.
The comic potential of each moment isn’t always fully exploited, with some sections taking up time which could have been given over to a wider variety of gags. The exaggerated dances to loud techno music are fun but lose their impact after a while. However, the pace of the show ensures these never linger too long.
The interaction between the live action and the recorded sound effects (provided by sound designer Duncan Gallagher) is ingenious. One interview snippet which could have been particularly sad was rendered utterly hilarious when delivered through an inanimate upright banana alone in a spotlight. (I can’t explain why this works so well, but it is a real highlight of the show and had me in stitches.)
So many elements of Bost-Uni Plues will be painfully recognisable to anyone who has experienced the uni lifestyle, from drunken freshers regret through to the feeling of being cut adrift once it is all over. The true achievement of Ugly Bucket in creating this show is the feeling of comfort that is to be gained knowing that so many other people have felt the exact same way that you do, and that it is possible to come out laughing.
-Daniel Shipman
Catch Ugly Bucket at Edinburgh Fringe 2019 and find out more here.