I first saw Daniel Kitson in Australia almost by accident.
He was doing a show called '66a Church Road - A Lament Made of Memories and
Kept in Suitcases', as part of the Perth Arts Festival and my cousin Jen
suggested we go. Neither of us knew anything about him or his work, but we
thought it might be ‘alright’, which with hindsight was somewhat of an
understatement!
But this unassuming genius is all about understatement. He
casually walks onto the Royal Exchange stage attaching his microphone, with no
announcement or fanfare, tells us a story for ninety minutes, and then leaves
with just a quick ‘ Thanks, I hope you liked it’ as he exits the auditorium.
It seems almost a
disservice to call Kitson a stand-up comedian, he’s much more than that, a
master storyteller who has you hanging on his every word from start to finish.
This show is billed as ‘A show about everything, and nothing’. In it he gives
us glimpses of two ordinary people, Willam and Catherine, at various ordinary
moments of their lives, and what came before and after those moments. William’s
tale is told from death to birth, Catherine’s from birth to death, their lives
are not linked, apart from one fleeting moment when they pass. And yet somehow
the very ordinariness of their lives, the fact that they are like you or I or
people we know, makes you realise how unique we all are.
Kitson packs so much detail into his beautifully crafted narrative,
and delivers at such a relentless pace, the effect as an audience member is quite mesmerising,
you don’t want to lose concentration even for a moment in case you miss yet
another well observed gem. He displays a great affection for his characters,
and there is a lot of comedy in the piece, but also tenderness and sorrow.
I’m so glad I got to experience the magic of Kitson for a
second time, and a bit closer to home on this occasion. He is an exceptionally
talented performer who treats his subjects with warmth and humour, and it’s a privilege
to be witness to it.
Agreed, Alison. I was there the same evening and it was a wonderful show. I was wondering though whether the untold part to the story was that the two characters did meet for more than a moment and had an affair, the one that Catherine confessed to and the perhaps the reason why William's marriage failed.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment. Interesting though but I don't really agree, I personally think the whole thing was that these were ordinary people with ordinary lives that may have passed briefly but there was no real connection. I think your interpretation might detract from that premise as its too convenient for storytelling purposes, but unlikely in real life. But its great that different people have different thoughts, I think thats why I like theatre so much, its open to interpretation.
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