trip.txt

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Title: Trippplicates Time Tripppers - Trippplicates.
venue :: Pleasance
category :: Comedy
Review :: by Ed Stack
4 gold bats

For a two woman show involving writer, Morgan Lloyd Malcolm and
Green Wing Star, Katie Lyons, you got what it said on the tin (or
the flyer) and some – two novice time travellers abusing their new
status as time lords, and eventually realising they have grossly
disobeyed their primary dictate – 'don't tangle with time!'- 
meaning most notably that the continent of Africa is lost from 
the world map. To understand how a session on eBay has the power
both to bring about and reverse this tragedy, only going to the 
show will do. 

Humour came mainly from the girls' relationship, which over time
had become an unbalanced power dynamic of the small one lauding 
it over the tall one. This caused a refreshing tangling with 
dramatic norms by tussling over who would play their bearded 
timelord teacher. Comedy abounded through using their new ability
(courtesy of a calculator ruler rather than anything as grand as 
a Tardis), their discovering the underlying truth of certain 
significant memories that they had distorted during their lives, 
as well as their witnessing events they would rather not have 
known about, most notably witnessing the early relationship 
between their grandparents as it takes a rather macabre turn 
for the worst. Time Trippers was fairly devoid of any kind of 
morale, or so tongue-in-cheek distant from the purported moral
of the play to suggest this was very much secondary to 
appreciating the expressions and amusing psychological concerns
of two sisters at loggerheads, and the actresses ability to jump
into very different roles in an instant – which was indeed very 
entertaining. 

Confidently played by immensely athletic Lyons as the dominant one
in the relationship between the two, and Morgan's more patient 
performance, they both mastered a range of accents and marshalled
a range of props professionally to create a pace which left one 
breathless at points.

This sustained pace created the milieu for by far the most 
resounding joke of the piece. Mona Lisa eating soup during a
break in having her portrait painted by Mr Da Vinci. Whatever 
the funniest piece of comedy ever written', this joke was better! 

So much so, this potential motif was crying for a repeat, 
especially given the way the end worked - that they go back 
to try and rectify all they've meddled with, but despite some 
good rewind slapstick, no such luck. Overall a missed opportunity
to make top quality even better, otherwise five star potential. 

By Ed Stack