Four stars in Fest:
The Elephant Woman
Wielding more comedy and kooky characters than many casts twice their size, Population: 3 returns to the fringe with a brand-new show loosely based on the concept of Joseph Carey Merrick, The Elephant Man. The show is largely a cavalcade of Victorian personalities: the pompous doctor exhibiting his freakish discovery with as little sensitivity as the Russian woman at the circus, a streetwalker, a street urchin, and Oscar Wilde.
There's some unnecessary smut, two inanely long repetitive sequences, and quite a bit of bizarre medical information – apparently you can give birth to a puppet by cutting open a big foam stomach – but the handmade props threaten to steal the show, particularly the horse-and-carriage.
James Bachman, Lucy Montgomery, and Barunka O'Shaughnessy sparkle on stage with their wit and energy. The Elephant Woman doesn't mind poking fun at itself for its small cast or cross-dressing, so the audience is always in on the laugh.
Tracey S Rosenberg
She gave us five stars last year, but I guess that show was more of a surprise. And last year we'd have been overjoyed by four, so I musn't act like a spoilt brat.