Review-Liars' League-Gay & Straight
10-9-13
By: Tom Hope
When reviewing a Liars' League show for HKELD, some DO NOTs to bear in mind:
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do NOT be 10 minutes late thereby not only missing a substantial part of the first performance piece but also ensuring you get nowhere to sit (this was my first Liars' League and I’m told it’s getting better attended by the month, yesterday filling the Fringe’s Dairy Bar to standing room only)
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do NOT forget to turn off your mobile phone so that it rings super-loud at the climax of the penultimate performance piece (yes, it was me – apologies to all, and especially Warner Sallman who was in full flow rendition of his Other Half at the time)
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do NOT look away to take written notes while Saffron Chan is performing lest she lob a lollipop your way to demonstrate the candy-like cuteness of male appendages.
And the DOs? Well, DO enjoy the quality of writing and performance, the relaxed but attentive atmosphere, (audience backchat ceased throughout each performed piece) and the themed approach. Yesterday evening, titled GAY & STRAIGHT, threaded together seven assorted musings on cross-gender sexuality, from gays mortified by their fascination for the same sex (Jaqueline Leung’s GEMINI and Lizzie Harries’ THE OTHER HALF) to gays mortified by their fascination for the opposite sex (Liam Hogan’s REPUTATIONS and Zarina Zabrisky’s HONEY HUED EYES) to celebrations of guys and gals of every creed, colour, shape and size (C.T. Kingston’s UNDERGROUND, Marshall Moore’s BLACKWORK & FLASH and E.P.Henderson’s WHAT I LOVE ABOUT…).
The selection and sequencing worked well, leading us into a mostly merry maze of contemporary sexual motifs and amoralities. And the performers clearly relished the chance to talk dirty with style in public. It helped that each of the pieces was written in ‘I’ form, making each a monologue. Praise in particular to Saffron Chan (WHAT I LOVE ABOUT….) and Hin Leung (BLACKWORK & FLASH) for going offbook - and, in Saffron’s case, coming off stage to hug, eyeball and otherwise engage the front row audience in ecstasising WHAT I LOVE ABOUT… - and to Sin Gwamanda for her perfectly attuned Russian accent and comic pausings in HONEY HUED EYES (for the record Sin is actually South African but boy would I not know it by her voice last night).
I also enjoyed Alexandra Jacobs’ rendering of GEMINI and Daniel Levia’s REPUTATIONS. As a Brit, I struggled to zone out the American tonalities of Michael Rogers’ UNDERGROUND and Warner Sallman’s THE OTHER HALF, where the setting was so clearly British and could have benefited from an appropriately accented and rhythmed delivery. (Are there really no male actors with British accents in their kit bag on the Liars' League roster?) But with that caveat they too worked their (relatively weaker) material to good effect.
Overall, I had a good time and judging by their attentiveness and responsive applause the rest of the audience did too.
Special mention also for Sophia Yan who dished up a 15 minute interlude of classically jazzy piano music which had the Fringe’s grand piano keys thrumming and audience toes tapping to Nicolai Kapustin’s Sonatina, Alberto Ginastera’s Danzas Criollas and Dave Brubeck’s Blue Rondo. As for the monologues, the audience turned off their chatter and tuned in to Sophia’s classy but relaxed rendition of off-beat repertoire.
For those who’ve not yet been to one of these ‘workshops’, that (for me, at least) pretty much summarizes the main attraction of Liars' League (which of course won ‘best newcomer’ at this year’s HECKLERS) – a disparate bunch of folk coming together to do fun stuff with serious intent, with sufficient pressure to give the evening an edge yet retain a sense of the sort of soiree you’d like to run at home if your living room was large enough.
Judging by its exponential audience expansion, the Liars' League’s main concern for the future will be finding larger and larger rooms. A good concern to have… and a good reason NOT to be late should I ever review this event again.
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