Britishness – Shelley Cooper
Britishness, a show about the meaning of being British in modern day Britain. A comic journey through history, looking at such things as the culture, religion and politics of this small island. With the show being part of the free fringe a mixture of nationalities were apparent in the audience, Dutch, German, South African, Australian and of course us British, with most being from England and a handful of proud patriotic Scots.
Shelly Cooper opens by telling us a bit about her background, born into a family that were rooted in the jewel of the Empire, the patriotic behaviour of her father who we were told stood up and saluted the Great British national anthem in the days when the British Broadcasting Corporation ‘closed’ for the evening.
Britishness looks at Great Britain from a wide variety of angles, with no clear opinions given. It seems more like a history lesson. A more enjoyable one than those dreary days spent in a stuffy room listening to equally stuffy teachers digress about the goings on of yesteryear. Here we are given a lesson in historical comedy, having the small British institutions we hold dear put out there for the entire world to see and have a giggle at.
Ultimately, I did find the performance interesting, as I am a sucker for nationalistic history; I think this experience was not recreated with other members of the audience. If you happen to be from one noble nations that compose Great Britain then this would be a show that I would implore that you see. It is witty and in good humour, and Shelley makes you feel connected to the show. On the downside, Britishness only works for a British audience. People of other nationalities simply wont understand this performance about Britain.
Historical comedy with a hint of colonialism thrown in for good measure
No comments:
Post a Comment