Presented by Michael Burgos
Reviewed 25 February 2016
If you frequent the city centre, you have likely seen Michael Burgos cheerfully promote his one-man show The Eulogy over the past week. On Thursday night, he performed for a sold-out audience in the sweltering Cusack Theatre.
Attired in a discretely dishevelled black suit and tie, Burgos walked out and sombrely mimed carrying a casket, before laying it to rest centre-stage. Burgos began the eulogy for Thomas, by all accounts a rotund man who choked to death on a fried egg after years of ignoring his doctor and mother’s pleas for dietary restraint.
Burgos was initially shy, reading from notes in his pocket as he remembered his childhood goldfish Mr Snowflake who, like Thomas, died too young. Burgos adopted a series of personas as he continued to eulogise Thomas, each more fantastic and defamatory than the last. These included a hysterical preacher, American politician, pyromaniac ballerina, and Edgar Allan Poe style narrator during his recount of the time Thomas rejected a home-delivery of vegetables.
Burgos’s presented an irresistible brand of dark humour. His personas were faultless. He adopted a fresh voice, facial expression, and body language for each. His impersonation of a kindergarten-aged Thomas, caught by his mother stealing chocolate cake, was hilarious. Mid-eulogy he chose a viewer from the front row to act as Thomas’s widow, draping her in a black lace veil before proceeding to sing a ballad dedicated to her.
By way of thanking his premiere audience, Burgos offered each member a chocolate cupcake at the end of the show. It was the perfect end of a delightfully bizarre night.
The Eulogy is a Fringe experience not to be missed.
Reviewed by Nicola Woolford
Rating (out of 5): 4.5
Venue: Tuxedo Cat, Cusack Theatre
Season: 25 Feb – 14 Mar
Duration: 60 mins
Tickets: $10.00 – $24.00
Bookings: Book through FringeTix online or at a FringeTix box office (booking fees apply)
http://www.adelaidefringe.com.au
http://www.tuxedocat.com.au
http://www.theeulogyplay.com/
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