Morgan Berry: Watership Down

Rabbits, a Carwash and a Bafrican. No, that's not a typo.

Morgan Berry: Watership Down

This is a pretty bizarre show, to say the least. The premise is a pet bereavement specialist, that was born in Barnsley, and was raised in Africa. That explains the Bafrican part, but doesn't even begin to describe the completely weird experience that was this show. You have to go in with an open mind, and there's not much you can compare it to. Think along the lines of some of the more surreal characters from "Little Britain", and then think that this character would have no trouble blending in on the set, or in any of the sketches.

Watership Down is a clue to the type of pet bereavement that Morgan specialises in. Yes, Rabbits. I have to admit, I've never been particularly fond of rabbits, and this show hasn't turned me to embrace the small, furry... ear thingys. I think that it is almost a requirement of the show that you are at least partial to rabbit based affections, or at the very least, are able to feel sorry others that have lost their pets. It's an important that you are able to buy into the sheer silliness of this show, because that is the crux of it. It is very silly, and surreal.

In spite of the fact that this show has all the elements that I would usually find to be funny, it just didn't do anything for me. I spent the entire show with a smile on my face, sure, but I never laughed, and my applause was polite. This show suffers from the unfortunate problem of the performer (Jon Rowntree) thinking that he or the show is far funnier than it is. It wasn't a confidence thing, and it wasn't a performance thing, as he had no problem with either, but I find it particularly difficult to laugh at or with a comedian that expects to get laughter. Another issue I have is that Rowntree's performance isn't big enough, he's very much torn between several different ideas

It's not a perfect show, and it need a fair bit of polish and work. There is absolutely no reason why this couldn't be rib crackingly hilarious, but it's not there yet - this is a shame, because you can tell how much work has been put into each performance, and the character. Maybe next year, with more focussed material, this show can be great. That's not to say that it's bad, it has it's merits, but many of them live in the audience participation, and as such, it then dies with the audience participation.

Author

Joshua Gould

Joshua Gould Contributor

Voice Web Administrator/Social Media Man/Struggling Actor/Human.
I try to get as involved in the arts as I can be, more often than not by getting up on stage, but also by reviewing shows! I'm JoshGould95 on all social media, so if you've got a show you want me to too look at, hit me up!

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