The Twins w/ Greg Fleet & Ian Darling ~ Adelaide Fringe 2021 Review

[Theatre/Comedy ~ WORLD PREMIERE ~ AUS]

The Studio at Holden Street Theatres, Wed 17 Feb.

Greg Fleet and Ian Darling were aspiring actors at school who played the twins in Shakespeare’s The Comedy Of Errors. Fast forward to recent times and after wildly different careers they decide to tread the boards together again. Playing Shakespeare’s twins again? Well, no. Playing themselves. Soul twins.

In what probably started life as a catch up over an extended lunch, Fleet and Darling talk about how they had watched each other from a distance over the years, perhaps a little envious of each other. Somehow they reconnected and decided their life stories would make good material for the theatre.

Greg Fleet and Ian Darling are very convincing as Greg Fleet and Ian Darling. Fleet in particular, as he was in his autobiography, is brutally honest about mistakes he has made along the way, including his heroin addiction. He lets it be known that he would rather be remembered as an actor who did a bit of comedy, than as a comedian who did a bit of acting. Darling, better known for his other achievements, especially as a documentary film-maker, is taking up the challenge to become known as an actor.

Interspersed with snippets of music from the great Australian classics from their youth – Paul Kelly, The Go-Betweens, Australian Crawl, The Angels etc. Fleet and Darling’s tales feel very real, because of course they are. However, these are not just anecdotes related to the audience in a group discussion or rehab format. Their true lives are presented as theatre, of Shakespearean proportions. On one level this feels a little self-indulgent, but then they are both successful men who’ve led interesting lives, so their stories are interesting.

Don’t come along to see this play expecting to see Greg Fleet doing stand-up comedy. Come along to see two men whose lives have been intricately connected to the theatre trying to understand what has happened to them by presenting their lives as theatre.

4 stars

Cathy Tune & Adrian Miller

The Twins continues at The Studio at Holden Street Theatres at various times until Sun Mar 21.

Book at FringeTIX on 1300 621 255 or adelaidefringe.com.au. Click HERE to purchase your tickets.

#ADLfringe
#ClotheslineMag