7 DEADLY SINS
DIRECTOR: Aaron McIlroy
CAST: Aaron McIlroy and Lisa Bobbert
VENUE: The Playhouse
RATING: ****
The comedy component of the New Stages season at the Playhouse in Durban was provided by the city’s first family of mirth, Aaron McIlroy and Lisa Bobbert.
For this occasion they have revived their 2014 hit show, 7 Deadly Sins.
The production played to sold-out audiences at the Playhouse’s Loft Theatre over the past weekend.
7 Deadly Sins takes an irreverent and hilarious look at the seven deadly sins of lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride.
It is presented in the form of a live TV show during which the whacky presenters, Yawana and Yogwana, introduce a host of totally off-the-wall, screwball characters who present a madly comic, alternative look at the vices and virtues of the seven sins.
Among the oddballs are the most vainglorious Viking designer you would ever hope to meet;
A ditsy and rather gormless couple who, having accidentally stumbled upon a swingers’ party, are looking for any excuse to go back;
And the astonishing Toby, McIlroy dressed in a huge fat suit, who takes gluttony to a whole new level.
Then there are the ultra bitchy gym bunnies who envy everyone and everything, and also a welcome visit from one of McIlroy’s recurring characters, Vijay from Phoenix, who is in top form as he explains the importance of wrath in our daily lives.
Liberal use is made of overhead video projections, not only to add to the merriment of the show, but to allow the duo time to change into their variety of creative costumes.
With all their usual ebullience and dynamism, McIlroy and Bobbert keep their audience in stitches from the beginning of the show to the end.
These very talented and skilled comics deliver their gags with aplomb and exquisite timing. There is also enough of their hilarious trademark physical comedy to keep everyone rolling in the aisles.
They display their versatility during the show by singing songs such as Shaggy’s Hey, Sexy Lady, Britney Spears’s Toxic and Daft Punk’s Get Lucky.
The only down side with the performance for me was the venue. McIlroy and Bobbert have huge personalities which were a little overwhelming in the intimate Loft Theatre.
I can’t help wondering why they weren’t accommodated in the much larger Drama Theatre.
7 Deadly Sins was written by McIlroy and Bobbert, co-written by Sue Monteregge and produced by McBob Productions.
It offers wonderful, uninhibited and escapist fun from beginning to end. One can only hope it enjoys a revival in the future so that more comedy lovers can be exposed to this top-class entertainment.
New Stages 2015 wraps up this weekend with Bhakti, the award-winning dance-theatre production, celebrating the incredible fusion of KZN's diverse cultures.
According to a press release, 20 of Durban’s finest and most skilled contemporary dancers collaborate with some of the city’s most talented and classically-trained musicians and dancers to create a joyous, seamless inter-cultural fusion of dance, the spoken word, film and music that promises to take Durban by storm.
This collaboration joins dancers from the Flatfoot Dance Company and the Playhouse Dance Residency.
Performances at the Drama Theatre are on Thursday and Friday (for schools) and Friday to Sunday for the public.
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