Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Eat, Pray, Laugh!

REVIEW | Eat, Pray, Laugh! Barry Humphries Farwell Tour at the London Palladium is probably the furthest thing from a stage version of the best-selling novel Eat, Pray, Love.

 
Dame Edna farewell show
ONE woman’s year-long spiritual journey across Italy, India and Indonesia was the central premise in the 2006 memoir Eat, Pray, Love by author Elizabeth Gilbert. In 2010 the story was immortalised on the big screen, starring Academy Award winning actress Julia Roberts. And now it’s been brought to life on stage in Eat, Pray Laugh; Barry Humphries Farewell Tour.

The similarities between the book and the live show are uncanny.
The ‘Eat’ in Eat, Pray, Love traces Gilbert’s culinary travels through Italy. In the stage version, the lewd and crude diplomat turned master-chef Sir Les Patterson whips up some authentic Australian tucker; rissoles. Telling the audience sexist, racist and politically incorrect jokes his humour is as unsanitary, as his cooking. Suffering from chronic diarrhoea, Les farts, and rushes to relieve himself in the not-so-sound-proof loo. And then returns to cooking, without washing his hands. “Since when did diarrhoea interfere with gourmet cooking?” he asks. With the help of The Condiments, four back-up dancers, Patterson mixes the meat with different spices, not forgetting his secret and signature ingredient: creamy saliva.

The book version of ‘Pray’ sees Gilbert spend three months finding her spirituality in India. The ‘Pray’ on stage introduces the audience to Father Gerard Patterson (Les’ brother), a catholic priest with a correctional ankle bracelet. He proudly declares “he’s touched everyone he has ever met”, as he expresses a particular interest in the young male Asian pianist (Nick Len). His brother Les had described him as a “Vagina Decliner”. With the help of a few audience members Father Gerard conducts a seance on stage.
More

No comments: