Review: TROMPE L'OEIL - Contact Theatre, Manchester (21/04/26)

Dull, confused mess of a show fails to make its intentions known

-----

The year is 2015, the USA have their first ever black president, and to boot they have just legalised same-sex marriage nationwide, all of which is, of course, a major cause for celebration, though that is until one orange faced Apprentice host edges his way into the White House...and that's more or less about as much as I was able to decipher from this bizarre, bite-sized Henry Parkman Biggs and Preston Joshnu musical "Trompe L'Oeil". This piece is a supposed satire of the presidency of Donald Trump, telling of the events using drag, cabaret and surrealism, to create something the like of which I have never seen on stage before, which, being brutally honest, is not a compliment.

credit: Olly Tandon

One can see clear fragments of what was being attempted, especially with how the current US president is turned into an exaggerated, slightly creepy caricature, with daughter Ivanka receiving the same treatment, though to rather more amusing effect, for which Phoebe Garr must be commended for such a strong comic performance. Where the show falls down is in its absence of any sense of purpose, fluidity or cohesion, and whilst I am always a major advocate of embracing the barmy, this needs to be in service of the piece, and for the most part the feeling that endured on the night was that of puzzlement and discomfort rather than amusement.

Disappointingly enough, the misgivings for this production weren't limited to its writing, as there were noticeable issues with the sound, to a degree where it ended up adversely affecting the performance, from poor balancing between the band and vocalists, to one of the microphones failing completely and not being rectified. Whether this was due to the venue or Ari Levy's sound design is unclear, however it was a consistent issue that often meant diction and clarity were lost completely, making it even more difficult to grasp onto what was going on.

credit: Olly Tandon

Then you've got the slightly haphazard love story between Demi and Rip, the latter battling with both his sexuality and inherent conservatism, being pulled in both directions somewhat. This was a great idea in theory, however it needed beefing out considerably to give it any real weight; and yes, one could argue that the silly nature of the show doesn't call for it, but even so it still felt glib and pretty unimportant, and any semblance of whether or not this was what the writers were aiming for is fairly foggy.

Safe for the odd iota of overacting, the performances all around were pretty solid, especially from Caitlin Goman as Trump, and Kemi Clarke in his many different roles, and they all clearly put their full backs into delivering their respective parts, as well as displaying no shortage of vocal talent, and executing Blair Anderson's lively, vivacious choreography quite superbly. Unbridled commitment notwithstanding though, the delivery wasn't enough to make sense of this disjointed, weird piece of theatre, though perhaps, in part, it just wasn't my cup of tea...

★★☆☆☆ (2*)

"Trompe L'Oeil" runs at Contact Theatre until the 2nd of May (tickets)

{PR/Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review}