Come Fly With Fred was inspired by many honest and moving interactions with London’s homeless community, and created with the hope to shed light on the rollercoaster life thousands live everyday and make you chuckle along the way. For the show, one joins Fred on his daily search for friendship in an explosion of circus, spontaneous puppetry beat-boxing, break-dancing physical comedy and original spoken word. I was intrigued to be invited along to see what this show was all about.
I saw this show while it was on at The Space on the Isle Of Dogs, London, a theatre space I've been to s few times before. As I've said before, its an interesting space in a converted church. It also has a reasonably priced bar/restaurant above it though this has very limited space.
Come Fly With Fred is part of the Send in the Clowns Festival, a fortnight of foolery showcasing the best in clowning and physical comedy. It was also part of the line up for the 2019 Camden Fringe. There was seating for just 28 people (less than the theatre space can normally hold) and I'm sorry to say even then it wasn't full. The stage was also virtually empty, with just a blue bucket to one side. I sat down and looked through the information I was given upon entering the theatre. I saw three words and my heart sank. Continuous audience interaction. I hate audience participation/interaction at the theatre. Sometimes it can be ok, maybe in an improve show someone shouting a theme or theatre style. Actually the majority of productions at Shakespeare's Globe have some form of audience interaction and they do it brilliantly. For the most part though as soon as I see audience participation my heart sinks. I go to the theatre to be entertained by actors/performers. I don't come to the theatre to be part of the entertainment myself. That's why I'm in the audience and not on the stage.
My overwhelming feeling while watching this show was that of awkwardness. I know the subject of homelessness was bound to be slightly awkward, however the room was overwhelmed by that feeling. It didn't help that the majority of the show was silent with the exception of the odd strange sound made by the performer, Lucas Bailey. This meant for most of the time the theatre was in complete silence, creating a feeling that wasn't the most comfortable. This may have been the intention, however it was far too overpowering for me to be fully engrossed in the show. Saying that, Lucas was a very talented performer having a plethora of skills that he made a point of displaying, from juggling to beat-boxing. His skills though couldn't break the awkwardness though. There were however funny moments in the show, but even these didn't save the show for me.
There was a moment of spoken word, and this was the most powerful and emotive moment of the show. I would much preferred the show to have consisted mainly of this as I feel it could have been far more impactful. I also was taken by how quickly Lucas was able to change between different states of emotion and mental stability.
This show is meant to make one think about the holes community and the struggles they go though in their lives on a daily basis. One moment however failed in this endeavour massively. Towards the end of the show 5 members of the audience were invited up on stage to take part in what can only be described as a human band/orchestra. The only assumption I can make is they were representing the different noises of London, that can often become be the metronome to a homeless persons life. After a while each member of this human band was then given a hat to ask the audience for money, like many homeless people do on the stress every day. This was clearly meant to be a moment where they were meant to feel the awkwardness of how this can often feel. Most of them however took it as a complete and utter joke, fake crying and making it into a piece of overacted comedy. In fact making the audience laugh at this poignant moment. I found this wholly disrespectful to not only the piece itself but for the performer wo for the past 35 minuets had pout his all into trying to make is feel a specific way.
The shows ending was powerful, with Lucas sat alone at the back of the stage with his hat on the ground as though asking "can you spare some change". The reality for the majority of the homeless community. He then proceeded to go through the actions of getting ready to spend a night sleeping on the streets, with a clear emphasis on this being a scary and often dangerous experience for many in the homeless community. The powerfulness of the ending and of the spoken word however failed to redeem a piece of theatre I found mostly awkward (and not in the way I assume they intended). It could have been so much more powerful and I left slightly disappointed.
(I was struggling to give this either two or three stars, but I had to make a decision as I don't do halves)
For more information about Come Fly With Fred, please click here
For information about the homeless charity Centre Point, please click here
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