St Andrews Revue – Reviewed

One of the stock features of St Andrews University is no doubt its high standards of artistic expression: the best of our theatre shows bear similarity to professional productions (anyone who saw ‘Two’ last week couldn’t possibly deny this); our fashion shows have been compared by many a professional publication to the catwalks of London and Paris. But what far too often gets overlooked is the quality of our comedy, which, spearheaded by groups such as the St Andrews Revue, is undoubtedly infused with this same high level of quality.

Speaking of catwalks, St Andrews’ fashion culture served as the primary target of the Revue’s satirical javelin in the second of their two annual comedic showcases: ‘Fashion’. The show was comprised of a series of comic vignettes, a quarter of which were part of a sequential narrative involving a rivalry between two fashion shows (can’t possibly think where they got the inspiration for this), whilst the rest of the sketches stood independently: examples included an incredibly posh game of Monopoly, and political satire involving a notably good Ed Miliband impression. Quite frankly, the show was hilarious, and I would like to give a few reasons why this was so.

Firstly the show was very close to home in its rich satire of stock features of St Andrews life. This ranged from the aforementioned artful mocking of fashion show culture (I think a half-eaten Dervish might have sold for 3 million pounds in the midway auction) to a passionate rendition of ‘Money, Money, Money’ modified such that the subject matter was the St Andrews housing crisis. The use of such close to home subject matter enabled the audience to truly resonate with the jokes aiding the intensity of the comedic impact.

However, the range of ‘Fashion’s’ satirical thrust wasn’t constrained by the glassy confines of the bubble. Rather, the show seamlessly juxtaposed its tasteful mockery of St Andrean conduct with humorous jabs at Britain as a whole. One example was a race on stage between each of the current Prime Minister candidates in which Nigel Farage (Oli Clayton) crossed the finish line first and kindly informed the audience how ‘fucked’ they were. Part of me was unsure as to whether this was a comedic sketch or a depressingly accurate prediction of the nearby future.

The metatheatrical component of this production was a further factor that worked in its favour, whether it was Oli Clayton ‘accidently’ proclaiming over audio that he ‘couldn’t go on performing with someone as racist as Simone’, or Ed Fry casually chatting to his prospective but unsuspecting history lecturer part way through the show. This constant breaking of the fourth wall played a key role in the elicitation of laughter.

However, the most brilliant feature of this show was the accompanying videographical material released beforehand; a feature that Lightbox share responsibility for. The element of student videos that more often than not screams mediocrity is the video quality; however, these videos were clear and of a high standard. This may seem trivial, but cinematography is quite literally the marker between videos of a distinctly ‘student’ character, and those with a more professional feel. The videos also made great use of timing, with the camera pausing on certain moments to allow the comedic thrust to fully fester, but abruptly cutting away at other times to communicate a different comedic idea. The music was a further highlight, with up tempo songs being meticulously deployed to both reinforce the satirical impact of the production and create variation in pacing. Some may consider my decision to dwell on ‘promotional’ material curious. However, these videos are more than just promotion. Through using videos, The St Andrews Revue have essentially revolutionised the way in which comedy is performed in St Andrews, and videography functions as the primary tool for conveying their comedic art.

In conclusion, ‘Fashion’ was an accomplished production with sharp comedic writing, rich satire, an abundance of metatheatricality, and outstanding accompanying videography. April 2015 served as a milestone in St Andrews comedy, with both of our main comedic troupes taking on the monumental Byre main stage and actually getting a decent turnout. I am deeply excited for the yet greater heights that The St Andrews Revue will reach in the nearby future.

Images courtesy of Rebecca Angel, Lightbox Creative St Andrews