Review: TWISTED TALES, ‘Owdyado Theatre - Brighton Fringe
Our final visit to Cornwall’s own The Fleapit performance space is not one to miss! Close to finishing up their incredible week at Brighton Fringe, we caught up with ‘Owdyado Theatre and their deliciously devious performance Twisted Tales.
Consisting of a double bill of two beautifully unique stories, performers Daniel Richards and Charlotte Bister effortlessly bring to life the writing talent of Jon Welch (Pipeline Theatre) and Brett Harvey (o-region). Twisted Tales is definitely a spot-on name for this show with no shortage of twists, turns, and revelations throughout; you’ll never know what’s coming around the next corner! Richards and Bister’s performances really take the short and darkly sweet tales to the next level with impeccable comedic timing. The duo also excels at really capturing the underlying emotional complexity of each character and story and engage their audience at all times. There’s always more to discover with these tales and it is the type of show that you could re-watch time and time again and still massively enjoy as once you’ve cottoned on to the twists, you can find other interpretations and meanings.
The first story of the ‘bandaged man’ is really Richards’ time to shine and boy does he! His acting is top-level and holds your attention and intrigue effortlessly. The duo manages to do so much with such a simple story and really capture the beauty of fringe theatre. Once we reach our second tale of the ‘two childrens’ TV presenters’, you’ll think you’ve sussed out their way of thinking and yet the twists just don’t stop coming! The pair were joined by a third party for this story, the ‘foul-mouthed, criminal genius’ blue bear and we won’t lie Besties, at times, we definitely forgot he is only a hand puppet! The laughs do not stop in this tale and despite its rather sinister subject matter, Richards and Bister do not fail to keep the light.
Besties, we cannot rave enough about this incredible show! With their final Brighton Fringe performance today (29 May), ‘Owdyado Theatre will be taking this magnificent performance up to Edinburgh Fringe Festival so don’t miss out!
**** Five stars
Reviewed by: Natalie Pedro
Tickets for their Edinburgh Fringe run can be found here.