Boris and Sergey's Vaudevillian Adventure
Puppetry can be a magical and spellbinding way of telling stories, and we don’t take it nearly as seriously as we should in this country. As a consequence, shows developed specifically for adults are few and far between, something Boris and Sergey have being doing their best to rectify since they first came to the stage at the Edinburgh Fringe back in 2012.
Flabbergast Theatre’s diminutive double act has taken the company all over the world since then, but they surely can’t have played many venues so perfectly designed for their kind of show as Norwich’s best kept secret, the superlative Puppet Theatre. One of the very few purpose built puppet theatres in the country (granted it’s housed within the shell of a medieval church, but what isn’t in Norwich?) this extraordinarily intimate venue must have been as big a treat for the company as it was for the full house in attendance.
With three puppeteers to each character, a total of six performers crowded out the stage, unapologetically in full view as Boris and Sergey's tiny leather limbs were expertly manipulated into life. Such was the nuanced subtlety of the little fellow’s movements that their operators quickly and easily dissolved into the background, leaving all eyes on the two vaudevillian chums, as they battled away on their table top stage.
Henry Maynard and Dylan Tate both did an excellent job of voicing Boris and Sergey, bouncing off each other in semi-improvised routines that sat somewhere between the parameters of manic chaos and orchestrated lunacy. The audience clearly loved joining in with their chat, and were encouraged to do so - for much of the show’s running time, they were beside themselves laughing at the knockabout farce and broad slapstick offered up. Many of the evening’s best gags seemed to be genuinely invented on the spot, although they were nicely counterpointed by some inspired set pieces. Boris’s impression of Kate Bush was a comedy highlight, as was a clever parody of the Matrix, and best of all was surely the top hatted Sergey balancing on an orange (badly) due to a volley of party poppers putting him off his stride.
That said, the show gradually shifted gear as it entered the third act. As soon as Sergey’s leg stopped working, and carried on that way (despite shouting the odds at the puppeteer responsible) it was clear things were going all meta, and sure enough, proceedings rapidly developed a darker tone. A throw away remark Sergey had made earlier (that he might sell his soul) proved to be a pivotal plot point, and while it would be shameful to give the game away and say what happened next, suffice to say it soon became apparent how much we, the audience, had by then invested emotionally in the roguish pair. The nightmarish conclusion that sealed their fate was arguably at odds with the tone of the greater part of the show, but it so demonstrated the company’s bravado and imagination that it was arguably the highlight of the evening.
Foul mouthed, anarchic and occasionally shambolic, it would be fibbing to say every routine worked – a long skit of poker never really went anywhere – but such a daring interactive high wire act is inevitably going to wax and wane from one performance to another, not least as the reactions (and the wit) of their audiences differ. For all the silliness and knock about humour, it was the puppeteers’ awe inspiring (and seemingly telepathic) ability to work in tandem that left you wondering what this talented company will bring to the stage next.
