Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2009
The Boy With Tape On His Face
Mr and Mrs Wills
3 April 2009
Trades Hall
The Boy With Tape On His Face
Mr and Mrs Wills
3 April 2009
Trades Hall
Despite its raving reviews, I never thought I’d be into a wordless work. Well, never shall I doubt a review again, as The Boy With Tape On His Face is the most exquisite piece of comedy theatre that I have seen.
The boy (Sam Wills) doesn’t speak. He can’t speak because he has tape on his face, and from this sightly disturbing, and never explained, premise springs delight and joy that defy description.
It’s like unwrapping a plainly wrapped pile of birthday presents to finding kittens, ducklings, the beloved teddy bear you lost at the park when you were six, an outfit that makes you look stunning, the simple answer to world poverty and a cure for cancer. And then your best friends, the family members you love and your resurrected childhood pets all run into the room to hug you and reveal a table laden with every type of cake imaginable.
The Boy With Tape On His Face is comedy that warms your soul and lets your heart beat in time with the rest of the audience. The audience integral to the performance, but please don’t let the fear of participation scare you away, as even the most hesitant participants were happy to be on stage.
We love witty wit, punny puns and cunning language play – but the artists we come back to are those who find the “voice” that is theirs alone and let us see the secrets they keep in their hearts. The touch of sadness in Wills makes the boy one of us, but he takes us by the hand and flies us into the glorious giant snow dome of his beautiful world.
You have been warned - if The Boy With Tape On His Face sells out, as it did at the Adelaide Fringe, you will miss something extraordinary and I defy anyone not to love it.
