5 STARS, June 20 – July 23. Simon Collins is left in stitches from an uproarious performance of wordless comedy by America's Got Talent finalist, Tapeface
The scene is a shabby dressing room at the top of an old, dowdy theatre. An actor paces about waiting for his call. He is dressed as a typical artistic young man in a casual suit, t-shirt, trainers, a shoulder bag, such as one might vaguely notice in any modern city, only his mouth is taped shut and his wide eyes shine within circles of black kohl. Now the waiting actor sits in an armchair, dozes, and slips into a reverie…
The content of his dream is the show we are now in. Opening his eyes within the dream he notices an audience – ourselves – watching him. In adapting to the dream state he experiments by inviting a man from the front row up on stage. The next two hours unfolds like a happy dream of curious encounters. Numerous audience members are plucked from the stalls in a succession of surreal and hilarious scenarios. Sam Wills is a charismatic performer and the sketches are exceptionally inventive. For instance, three audience members are directed to become an out-of-sync Jackson Five while a pair of shoes, incredibly, transforms into Michael Jackson singing Blame it on the Boogie. The audience is in fits.
His mouth remains taped. No one speaks at any time though there is plenty of music, and the occasional tannoy announcement inside the dream theatre. At the end a notice tells the actor: I Must Wake Up. He leaves the stage to appear in whatever play he is supposed to act in. Without question this must be the most unusual show in London.
Later, sitting in his actual shabby dressing room at the top of the Garrick Theatre speaking to Sam Wills in the real-world, he told me that as a busker in Covent Garden he would walk past these venerable London theatres and dream of performing at the highest level.
Despite the character’s silence this is not mime so much as physical comedy involving a range of props such as a hair-dryer golf tee holding up a ball which a woman on a box tries to swipe with uproarious results. These japes are clearly rooted in the street performances of the busker Wills once was. This is the sort of market square act that has flourished for centuries, emerging later in music halls and talent shows. Indeed, though a New Zealander, Tape Face reached the finals of America’s Got Talent last year, having already starred in the 2011 Royal Variety Show.
He seems a gentle person blessed with odd talents, not least an ability to choose the right participants. None was leaden, each performed brilliantly. Sam said he never forces anyone onto the stage and never really humiliates them.
A mood of sympathy is at the heart of the show. Unlike much contemporary entertainment nothing is aggressive or lewd. Consequently, whole families are heard howling. The audience is briefly returned to an innocent world, where a humour unsullied by ironic social commentary wordlessly rediscovers the comedy of the body.
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