BLYSH: MISS BEHAVE’S GAME SHOW | STAGE REVIEW
Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff, Fri 24 July
As we wandered into the Weston Studio at the Wales Millennium Centre (WMC), to see one of the weird and wonderful shows on offer as part of the WMC’s Blysh festival, we were met with a stage decorated only with crude cardboard signs and ushered in by the charming Miss Behave in a glittery gold outfit, and her glamorous assistant Harriet (a guy in red lipstick and short shorts who, at various times in the performance, displayed her fantastically energetic dance moves).
Before taking our seats Miss Behave asked from stage ‘What type of phone do you have darling?’ and we were promptly segregated by our choice of phone brand: iPhone owners on one side of the room and all other brands on the opposite side.
A bottle of tequila was passed around as audience members trickled in and, once everyone was seated in their associated camps, we were introduced the gameshow. There would be rounds, there would be loosely allocated points and there would be incredibly enjoyable mayhem. And, once the games begun, it triggered a violent rivalry that would last the ages! Okay it was more a friendly, slightly silly rivalry that lasted as long as the hour long show, but at the time it felt that important!
Throughout the show there were a lot of creatively chaotic games (some involving phones – where we need to ring numbers, send out tweets and race to take selfies – and some not, including a ‘do anything for a point round’), hilarious musical interludes and random rule changes that were influenced by the audience.
There were some people who had come to the show looking like they didn’t really know what they had gotten themselves into, but Miss Behave and Harriet did an amazing job of fostering enthusiasm and creating the excitable atmosphere needed for such a show and, by the end of the performance, every single audience member was running around and laughing.
The whole show had a ‘kid’s birthday party where all the lemonade was replaced with ouzo’ feel to it that my partner and I loved and we were honestly gutted when it was over – as were many of the audience members I had shared the experience with.
I wish I could spend every Friday night like that and if Miss Behave should ever decide to move to Cardiff, and host her gameshow every weekend, I will be the first in line to buy a season ticket.
words HEATHER ARNOLD