Final reviews from Morecambe Bay Fringe and awards for best acts

Director Matt Panesh said, "This was the first year we reached capacity and had to turn fifteen shows down. I was particularly delighted with the strength of our local shows. Many who'd come through the workshops we offer. And the fact we had so many returnees as well as new acts. Special thanks go to Arts Council England for their support in these stringent times."

Awards Bay Fringe Morecambe

Best Theatre Show - Name of the Dame

Best Comedy - Mel Byron

Best Cabaret - Angela Bra - Secret Diary of a bingo call girl!

Best Poetry Show - David Lee Morgan

Best Local Theatre - Zoe Lambert

Best Local Comedy - Helen Logan

Reviews:

Matt Panesh

Matt Panesh is a force of nature, with an accent on the word FORCE. He screams, he cajoles, he swears, he rants and raves and misbehaves, a shooting star that goes too far and yes...he’s a poet too. But no shrinking violet he, in fact he’s the life of the party and riotously funny, and unlike most poets prefers the danger of the unknown, setting sail on the choppy waters of improvisation without any idea of where he’s going to end up, with the safety net of a verse or two to fall back on. Expect sex, and drugs, and rock and roll, along with a little bit of politics

5/5 Andrew Wood

Shakti Nataraj

In her sold out show, Nataraj retells some of her most infuriating experiences living as an immigrant in the uk. Her dramatic retelling of events manages to balance humour and serious issues skilfully, and she backs up her thought provoking script with genuinely impressive acting.

5/5 Dorian Ralston

Dean Tsang

Through a fast paced, intense and anxiety inducing set, Tsang invites us on a journey through his ‘mind palace’, in a continuation on his poetry sets from the previous 2 years. Meditating on his anxiety through compartmentalising his life into different measures, Tsang’s impressive rhythmical performances still manage to feel deeply honest and personal.

4/5 Dorian Ralston

Angela Bra

Angela Bra takes us on a tour of the bingo circuit, condensing her (slightly rigged) party bingo into a fantastic 50 minute comedy. Using comedic covers of songs she exposes the lives of both the aging entertainers running the ship, and the hen parties and wine mums who’s mercy they are at. Angela Bra’s show is full of truly hilarious, engaging and slightly camp fun.

4/5 Dorian Ralston

Saint Vespaluus

Recounting life in Liverpool in the 80s as a new romantic, Vespaluus deals with everything from the docks to school to junior smokers kits to serious mental health struggles. Vespaluus really comes into his own while reciting his poetry, and the raw emotion is tangible. In some cases the introduction is rather exhaustive however this does not detract from his performance.

4/5 Dorian Ralston

The Koi Comedienne’s Power Hour

Jaquiline Fontain is hilarious in her rather adult comedy set. With the help of a few props, a bit of audience participation, she delivers a truly hilarious set which was well worthy of the standing ovation it received. Donna Lloyd’s double act is equally enjoyable, despite a small fight with some boxes and a flask at the start. With hilariously naf jedi mind tricks and genuinely enjoyable songs, her set is definitely a good laugh. Nia Williams seems to continue along this vein as she performs multiple parody songs (slightly less tunefully) as the camp town crier, discussing her experiences with men, dating, IBS and realising she was gay.

3.5/5 Dorian Ralston

David Lee Morgan

For an uninterrupted 47 minutes, Morgan delivers some truly impressive and thought provoking slam poetry. He talks passionately about the history of Haiti and how it is inseparable from capitalism and climate change, indirectly highlighting the similarities with the world today. Morgan’s performance is not only impressive, but also an incredibly moving and inspirational call to action.

5/5 Dorian Ralston

Lubna Kerr

Revisiting highschool and her love of acting, Kerr delves into her childhood and tries to understand her bully. This compassionate piece of drama feels relatable and real, with Kerr jumping between re-enacting her younger self and adding how she now perceives these events as an adult. Kerr is incredibly passionate and really draws attention to the positive effects acting can have on people.

She also delivers a masterclass in character transitions.

5/5 Dorian Ralston

Ryan Woods & Friends

Ryan Wood is an engaging and slightly awkward host, who is an excellent addition to The Koi Comedienne’s set on the previous day. Jaqualine Fontain delivers yet another fantastic performance, and Donna Lloyd really upped the ante, wooing the audience and slightly upsetting her wife. Nia Williams returns again as the camp town crier, and is equally as funny. All this is broken up nicely by Ryan Woods’ humorous anecdotes which help to shift the tone between performances.

5/5 Dorian Ralston

Chip Slap Comedy - Patience

On the surface a frustrating and all too believable performance relating to the painful school admissions process - but under the surface the show takes a full-in-the-face swipe at NHS waiting lists and the situation facing so many waiting for treatment.

A circle of applications and pushbacks by the front-desk power wielding admin officer leads to an endless cycle of hope and disappointment. The ending is of course obvious - despite the promises, compliance with process, relationship building with the pen pushing gatekeepers - it just is never going to end well, or at all actually.

Funny and very well performed but there are only so many laughs you can get from cycling the same scenario. Some laugh out loud moments and overall an enjoyable watch.

3.5/5 Chris Smith

Parky Players - Been there, done that, got the symptoms!

Not a theatre show in the strictest sense, but the personal story about the impact of Parkinson’s on sufferers, and more important, the impact of theatre as an agent for independence, communication and joy. A personal story, a public journey. Takes the form of a talk with slideshow, then a documentary film about how the Parky Players came about and took their show to the Edinburgh Fringe. Ultimately it's a tale of the living power of theatre to enhance participants lives - a subject very close to this reviewers heart.

5/5 Paul Simeon

Murder Inc - The Improvised Murder Mystery.

Improv can be hit and miss, Murder Inc are most definitely the former. The audience went along fort he ride. The pacing and conceit are snappily done and the main body of enjoyment, the long form improvisation, meaning a play rather than a sketch got underway. Sadly I didn’t get all the players names, but Kate McCabe, the maestro of this show has assembled a crack team around her, and some patrons were returning customers which is always a good sign! Excellent, hilarious.

5/5 Paul Simeon

Belly Pork and Black Pudding

Bill Pook has a soothing voice that comforts your soul with every word.

His poetry covers a smorgasbord of themes, local, global and all that's in between. I think his show would benefit from a little more cohesion, as it meandered between unrelated topics. However, the poetry itself was beautifully crafted, and left you wanting more.

His rendition of the Miller's Tale took me back to being a fresh faced literature student and his gentle political commentary deserves a far greater audience.

Overall, thoroughly enjoyable.

3.5/5 C L Norton

Pete Mitchelson - Monster Mystery Mansion

A clever choose your own adventure or Live D&D using two members of the audience as key investigators, and the rest of us as the disembodied mind of the villagers. Looking to reboot the Resident Evil Franchise Milla Jovovich and Paul W.S. Anderson head to the real life Spencer Mansion and our investigators get to explore the mansion after them. Not a show in a traditional sense, but a thoroughly enjoyable Meta-tastic experience. Pete plays the roles and Lex is the Keeper of the Law. One of our players immediately said they’d be revisiting this show in Edinburgh and you can’t get a better recommendation than that. As in computer games, it's not about the graphics but the playability and this is designed to be an unusual hour of fun that deserves plaudits and players. If you’re in Edinburgh and like role playing, give this a go!

5/5 Paul Simeon

Koalas and Kebabs

This show of two halves was well received by the audience, with abundant belly laughs throughout.

Kiyanosh Sahebi was the first to perform, with a confident, self- deprecating style. His bait and switch jokes sailed close to the offensive line, but he deftly had the audience on board and never crossed that line.

Kurt Sterling was relatable and his set was more polished. It had a solid structure, and the audience were in the palm of his hand from the beginning. It was non-stop hilarity from start to finish.

Not quite there yet, but these two will be winners in Edinburgh and are sure to grace the Live at the Apollo stage in the future.

4/5 C L Norton

Chalk & Cheese - Anything Goes

With very clever writing, this show had firm hold of the audience from the opening poem.

Chalk & Cheese work well together, entertaining people with a well-paced mix of poetry, song and performance. The talent in the poetry was exceptional.

There were moments when the timing was slightly off, but it didn't detract from the overall performance.

They clearly have a following too, as several members of the audience had come tonight solely to see their show.

3/5 Linda C L Norton

Lisa Moore - Pickled Women

Presented as a Work in progress (WIP) show, Lisa deftly skewers the perceptions of women of a certain age, and the projections on women by men of a certain age. I'd certainly recommend all men see this show!

The links need further exploration and ironing out but the poems are powerfully already there. They are equally insightful and have a righteous anger, a force for understanding.

3.5/5 Paul Simeon

Lou Black

Returning to the fringe Lou was an artist I wanted to see and I was treated to a great set of spikey humour delivered with acerbic charm and warmth I became involved in Lou’s world and wanted to know more. A great performance and highly recommended

4/5 Christian Ainscough