Presented by Michael Burgos. Tuxedo Cat. 25 Feb 2016.
As an alumni of the prestigious French clown school École Philippe Gaulier, Michael Burgos is in the same company as Sacha Baron Cohen, Emma Thompson, and Helena Bonham Carter. It is therefore no surprise that Burgos can make you laugh heartily with a gesture, a look, a word.
His one man show, The Eulogy, is set in a funeral home at which the funeral of his friend Thomas is underway. Thomas was morbidly obese and died from the diseases of excess that come from a lifetime of absolute gluttony. Thomas was the object of ridicule and snide remarks, and at his funeral there is a veritable zoo of weird and diverse ‘friends’ and acquaintances who clamor to offer eulogies. Burgos plays them all and successfully gives them all highly individual personas that scream out for attention and likely rival Thomas’s ability to draw attention to himself.
Burgos is captivating as he plays everything from a pall bearer to a child whose first experience of death was the demise of his goldfish, to a guilty cake-stealing child caught with his mouth stuffed full of chocolate, to a fire-and-brimstone evangelical preacher from the deep South, to a ballerina with an unhealthy penchant for fire, and others I can no longer remember.
Each characterisation is compelling, and at times quite touching despite the grotesqueness of many of the characters.
At the end of his opening night, which was sold out, he offered each member of the audience a delicious cupcake – chocolate of course! – on their way out of the almost-stiflingly hot venue (get some air conditioners!).
Funerals are often solemn affairs, but not this one. It was a hoot!
Kym Clayton
When: 25 Feb to 14 Mar
Where: The Tuxedo Cat
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
