Reviewed by Renee Kirk
This year’s holiday-season offering from The Basement, Christ Almighty, is full of Christmas cheer – the bawdy, lewd and very un-PC type. While this could be shocking and highly offensive to some, for the rest it delivers an entertaining show with plenty of hilarity and high-jinx.
This risqué Nativity is delivered by 8 characters, taken from a pool of about 40 well known actors, many of whom were also part of the collective behind last year's The Eight: Reindeer Monologues. This has ensured an almost sell-out season with punters going back for more to see a new cast and a different show.
They play was delivered as a series of monologues and it was a mixed bag as to how much was scripting and direction and how much simply the actors own interpretations. This left plenty of room for a good dose of improvisation and along with quite a bit of audience interaction created some hilarious moments.
I was entertained by a very strong cast including some familiar faces. Their stories centred around the birth that was about to take place and the different religious and not-so-religious implications.
Amanda Billing opened and was wonderfully coarse and funny in her role as the Innkeeper, explaining her plans to cash in on the untapped market of religion.
Anna Julienne was probably the star of the show as the over-worked Angel Gabriel who had been driven to drink, perhaps by her work load or maybe her “relationship” with God. She was rude, abusive, dirty and downright hilarious.
Fern Sutherland played the sex-crazed shepherd and had a wildly funny scene where the prayer she’d involved two audience members in, became more of a rutting with the chair of another.
Natalie Medlock played the multiple personality, three-in-one, Wise Man with dexterity and great physicality. She secured plenty of laughs and briefly involved fellow cast member Keisha Castle-Hughes, who was part of the audience.
Jeff Szusterman was the misunderstood King Herod, who just wanted to be liked. He demonstrated his amazing singing with a few adapted Elvis numbers and was a very endearing baddie.
The second half saw Robbie Magasiva take to the stage as the poor, abused, fa’afafine donkey, dressed in a fantastic costume and with pink lipstick, false eyelashes and a wonderful skip in his step.
Curtis Vowell followed, as Joseph, who delivered some awkward stand-up which turned into thoughts/frustrations about trying to compete with God for Mary’s attentions. And finally the woman herself, Olivia Tenant as Mary, with a sweet southern lilt and half as much swearing as any other character!
The scenery and props were kept to a minimum; a few hay bales here and there and a gaudy Star of Bethlehem, which I think may have been borrowed from somewhere on K Road.
Now coming to the end of its run I would suggest you get in quick if you want to see the show of the season. Be prepared to laugh and have all you’ve ever learnt about the birth of Christ completely turned on its head. And that is about as much as you can predict with this one; who you’ll get, what they’ll be wearing, how many swear words they can string together in one sentence, it all depends entirely on the night.
Christ Almighty!
By Natalie Medlock and Dan Musgrove, directed by Cameron Rhodes and Colin Moy
Until 19 Dec with extra shows Thursday 17th and Friday 18th at 10pm