Spellbinding facial gymnastics

Press, 2 March 1981, Page 6

Spellbinding facial gymnastics

Sponsored by the Students Arts ; Council and the AustraliaNew Zealand; Foundation; i The Ngaio Marsh Theatre, ! February 28. Running time:,; 8.40 pun. to 10.10 p.mReviewed by Gerrit Bahl- ■ man. . . .. Jean-Paul Bell has a truly magnificent face. His facial athletics left the audience snellbound with real anxiety in case' the-,Wind changed, s or he did himself a-permanent injury;? Witbin moments of the show’i-cpmmencing JeanPaul Bell the audience that tlje face was indeed jthe/>Ost<?eXpressiye' part of; the-Human body. Xhs sense of comedy and his use of facial, expression were the mainstay of an entertaining evening. < Bell’s mime;, while impressive and skilled,, .w.as sometimes a little hurried, and suffered from a . desrie to be funnv at the expense of the medium. In his flea-trainer (sequence, which started the evening, the.touch of.pathos developed was. occasionally marred by his anticipation of

the lyric from which he was working. His Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde waiter sequence began abruptly, and as a consequence took some time to gain momentum. To some extent the early very successful mime sequences generated cliches which were then recognized in later sketches. The same cupboard used for making pancakes was used by the surgeon in the operating theatre. Every door that a character opened seemed to require the same physical application. The use of music in some of the sequences was very effective, and gave an added dimension which could be explored further. The use of a live microphone in the early part of th& evening seemed at first a little incongruous, and the subsequent .rejection of it ,in returning to ; the t mjme medium’ meant-that' Beil, had to reintroduce • his; audience tb/ the mime conventions. That be accomplished 'this with consummate ease is a complimept to his skin. The return to the* character of Punjab Laborer at the end of the evening was greet-.

ed by the audience with some relief.. His patter and verbal comedy became a very pleasant; alternative to the impressive but now familiar facial characterisations. The evening had been;'punctuated by a series of ludicrous, bizarre comic characters, and the lack of poignacy created a subtle sense of dissatisfac-tion.-His return to_a straight comedy routine with its opportunity of audience participation was immediately successful, and ended? the evening on a high’note,..". •<. The audience was left with a sense of respect for the hard and extremely demanding nature of a ; one-man comic-mime act.. The sheer hard work and strikingly original funny sequences made the experience well worth while. The image of the bungling surgeon extracting, what seemed to be miles, of intestinal tract from his poor eversuffering patient will remain with us. As will the complaint 4 and ’ appeal of the ‘unsuccessful flea trainer with wu « train each flea,., . 1