by Fire Curtain Co
Theatre
Friday 23rd of January
Circus Theatre Bus Bar
Review by Lucy Ballantyne

For all its benefits, there is an unfortunate side effect to ushering in Fringe World each year. That is, its tendency to herald the return of ‘quirky’: astro turf indoors, salad spinners repurposed as lanterns; general ‘vintage’, whatever that means. Fringe World can oft invite the attention of people whose mothers would describe them as ‘clever, kooky, different’ and shop exclusively at boutiques that boast ‘op-shop chic’. These are the kind of people who would love this show.

Fire Curtain Co brings You Took The Stars to Perth’s Fringe World off the back of a successful run of shows at their hometown fringe in Melbourne. The show, penned by Cat Commander, is the very definition of twee. The dialogue was overly verbose, and the lead actress/manic pixie dream girl wore Gorman. For God’s sake, there’s a man-monkey playing Fly Me To The Moon on acoustic guitar. Thankfully, the ‘quirky’ aesthetic and well-worn and decidedly twee subject matter, the beginning and slow disintegration of a romantic relationship, were bested by genuinely heartwarming moments. The audience is also dropped a few hints of self-awareness, like when the leads dream up a guitar-wielding monkey who “can’t sing… but he’s trying”, just before the actual ‘monkey chorus’ starts to sing.

However, most memorable are the outstanding performances given by James Cook and Claudia Tory. The repartée between their pair gives You Took The Stars its charm and vivacity, and gives the play an intensity that other vintage-astro-turfed-quirky shows lack. Maybe I’ll have to rethink twee; gin in a tea cup, anybody?

You Took The Stars runs until the 29th of January. Tickets are available here.