Personal Space Review
Personal Space is an anthology of three comedies about “the worst people” and that’s not an understatement. By the end of the performance these people had exposed me to a nailgun, an eight ball (the drug one) and multiple corpses. This is a good thing, the entire endeavour is fucking hilarious.
The three pieces are all written and performed by some of the stalwarts of Irish comedy: Stephen Colfer (Dreamgun), Hannah Mamalis (The Egg is a Lonely Hunter) and Peter McGann (Liam Nugent).
Death of the Three Musketeers sees runaway bride Claire (Mamalis) hook up with best man and absolute lad Gary (McGann). The two have secluded themselves in his dad’s fuck pad (technically it’s in his mam’s name). The moment Claire leaves his sight Gary is Frasiering his way around the penthouse apartment with a dead cat. They go back and forth on the merits of what they’ve just done as they learn more about their friend (slash jilted fiancé) and family. Things go downhill from there.
The Amateurs features widower and novice Airbnb host Brian (McGann) greeting his first guest, redditor Will (Colfer). The conversation keeps finding the two men, equally awkward in quite distinct ways, coming back to the subject of Brian’s dead wife Katie. Things go downhill from there.
Little Lunch is set during the eponymous period in a secondary school. Standard nerd Sally (Mamalis) is stopped on her way out of class by denim-clad “cool” teacher Mr Flannery (Colfer). But call him John*. He needs to know the whereabouts of one of the popular students, Darren, and has reason to suspect Sally knows. Things go downhill from there.
Each play is beautifully plotted, brimming with twists and turns alongside some killer lines (literally in some cases). The performances are solid and while primarily comedic they bring plenty of nuance to their characters. McGann’s Gary is suitably dim without approaching slapstick idiocy. Mamilis’s Sally burns with the light of a thousand Lisa Simpsons (by way of Annie Edison). Colfer’s Will is almost sympathetic as a creepy internet dude (but make no mistake, he is a creepy internet dude).
Personal Space is running all week at 8pm until this Saturday 20 January in Smock Alley Theatre. You can buy tickets here and I really recommend you do. You’ll be chuckling all the way home and that should help keep you warm during this cold spell.
There may not be any good people there, but you could be.
* Seriously, in an “inappropriate familiarity” contest he would wipe the floor with American Vandal’s Mr Kraz.
