Comma Sutra already sets the bar high by its title alone. A cabaret about the love for grammar, it is indeed matched by the content within.
Louisa Fitzhardinge proves she is a performer with many attributes. An adept writer, a captivating singer, a curator of puns, and a master of rounding off songs with zesty closing lyrics. Above all, however, to encapsulate the nature of the show, she is proudly a self-confessed lover of all things grammatical, and will no doubt underline many parts of this review in red pen in honour of the wonderful persona she creates on stage.
All in all, this is a brilliant show for those who love their brain to be engaged during the course of an hour’s worth of entertainment, so without being clever to match the level of writing within the show, the explanations that follow are plain and simple in order to encapsulate why this performance has received such glorious praise from other festivals.
There is a great level of intellect and clever musing that has been placed into the writing of this show that would be hard to be matched elsewhere within the festival. In some cases, a second viewing of the many fast paced songs may be required to fully encapsulate the every smart wordplay or colourful interpretation that has been packed into the lyrics.
There are many lessons to be learnt, empathy to be earned, and laughs to be had at the differences between languages, that make this show a delicious smorgasbord of how language is a funny beast, how we respect it, and essentially how much humour can be attained from it.
Fitzhardinge masters her love for grammar by being such an experienced entertainer that the writing is performed with the justice it deserves, and with the aid of Greg Lavell at the piano, the hour of comedy is slick and well received.
Comma Sutra induces laughs, reactions of discovery, and vocal appreciations of how elegantly one of the cleverest minds to grace the stage can come across to a pleased crowd. Be sure to pick up the complimentary flyer at the conclusion of the show.
– Corey
Corey M. Glamuzina is a Melbourne-based actor, writer, improvisor and comedian with an avid involvement in the art of theatre and film.
Comma Sutra runs from the 29th March to the 9th April, 7pm (55mins) at The Butterfly Club, Carson Place. Purchase tickets now.
The venue is not accessible.
Read The Plus Ones’ guide to MICF 2017, and visit often to see all our reviews.
