HITCH | STAGE REVIEW

The Riverfront, Newport, Thurs 16 Apr

Looking over the cluster of tables and chairs, all circling a round stage in the centre of the room, my guest and I decided to follow the advice of the performer who ushered us in and chose to ‘sit next to a stranger’.

The older couple we ended up with told us that they happened upon the show; they were walking by the Riverfront when someone offered to sell them some spare tickets. They didn’t really know what they were getting themselves in to and, before the end of the show, one of them would end up playing a central role (they weren’t the only ones either, as the rest of the audience and I gave an Oscar winning performance of some scenery going by the window). This is exactly the kind of thing that Mary Bijou Cabaret and Social Club is about – they are a surprising treasure of Wales’ arts scene just waiting to be discovered.

Hitch is their cabaret tribute to the work of iconic director Alfred Hitchcock. It’s a show that is part circus, part dance, part pantomime, part gig, part stand-up and part mime (with all those elements doused in a great sense of humour).

As someone who hasn’t seen a single Hitchcock film (I know, what a philistine! I’ll get round to it…eventually) I know that I didn’t get all of the show’s references, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying every moment of Hitch.

Just some of the highlights included a stunning performance on the Chinese pole by Laura Moy who manage to climb, fall and pose beautifully whilst erratically fending off birds, a hilarious characterisation of Charlotte Inwood (from Stage Fright) – whilst hula hooping – by Anna Sandreuter’s and an impersonation of Hitchcock himself that was…unique…to say the least.

The finale was a re-imagining of the famous shower scene from Psycho (a reference even I got) and it was like nothing I had ever seen before. I can only really describe it as an aerial act in an oversize cellophane bag, and that doesn’t really do it justice.

With Hitch Mary Bijou have done for the ‘Master Of Suspense’ what the Reduced Shakespeare Company did for The Bard (though they managed to pull it off with a little bit more cool). It was a show in which I found myself in stitches laughing and with my jaw dropped in amazement.

I can’t wait to see what this company does next (and I guess I can always work on that back catalogue of Hitchcock films while I wait).

words HEATHER ARNOLD photos TOM BEARDSHAW