Review :: Who’s the Best?

June 23rd 2011

 

As they are quick to remind us in the show’s opening lines, the Post ladies have been working together a long time. It’s therefore only natural, they assure us, that the inevitable question came up: who’s the best?

Who’s the Best, the latest Next Stage show at STC, charts the long and arduous process of determining which of Post’s regulars (Mish Gregor, Natalie Rose – here played hilariously by Eden Falk, and Zoe Coombs Marr) is the best.

The trio have split best-ness into numerous categories, sub-categories, and sub-sub-categories (for example looks –> head –> face) and devised measurement techniques for each. Relationships, say, are judged by quantity not quality, so as Nat/Eden points out, even though (s)he is married and feels (s)he should win, Zoe in fact wins based on sheer figures.

The show, put simply, is frickin’ hilarious. I laughed my ass off throughout the entire thing, stopping only occasionally to breathe, and to try not to be that weirdo with the super-disruptive laugh that borders on heckling, particularly when you arrived breathlessly in the nick of time and wound up in the front row.

The premise is engagingly simple. Taking a light-hearted shot at reality TV, competition for competition’s sake, and the measures we use to judge one another, Post have managed to once again cut straight to the heart of the issue, without once making you feel like they’re talking about issues, or really even performing at all.

The trio riff brilliantly off each other, never missing a beat and with an ease and humour that surely only comes with such a close and hilarious collaboration. The staging is simple, but works to great effect – several coloured curtains move back and forth seemingly at random, interfering with the performers and creating yet another hilarious facet to this energetic show.

In fact, everything about it feeds into its sharp and incisive humour. The music is fantastic, carefully chosen to heighten key moments and lift gags to even greater effect and – yes, again – hilarity. Frankly, there is nothing about this show I didn’t love. See it. See it now. Did I mention it was hilarious?

 

What: Who's the Best?

Where: Next Stage, Sydney Theatre Company

When: Every night until July 2nd. See the STC site for times.

How much: From $25, including a Little Creatures beer

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