Kath On a Hot Tin Roof is an intimate show about Kathryn Bendall’s life from the 60’s through to today. A random mix of monologue, skits being acted out while your stupor is broken only by the somewhat annoying audio and visual props that she uses, we are taking on a long journey through the years of sexual revolution through to her children being the after effects of a politically incorrect fake thalidomide incident.
A humour which will most definitely be appreciated by the older community members, perhaps above 40, Kath On a Hot Tin Roof did make me laugh and it was an enjoyable show.
The Long:
It isn’t often in life that we are faced with the opportunity to do something that we wouldn’t ordinarily do, and tonight was that night for me. After I wrote a review for Fiona O a little while ago, I received some correspondence from Jennifer who works with a girl called Kath, proposing this opportunity. It was, simply, to come and see Kath’s show ‘Kath on a Hot Tin Roof’. Performing as part of the Adelaide Fringe, tonight was opening night and Kath was ready to go!
Taking my seat in the Bunker’s unfamiliar surroundings, I could see that this was going to be a somewhat intimate show. Sitting second from the back, we were still only a few rows from the front and could see every part of the stage just fine.
The back was draped with what looked like a bed sheet and a small table of props were stage right. As the lights dimmed and the music faded to a spotlight, Kath popped up on stage. This woman, obviously in her more mature years, explained to the audience that comedy was something she only considered in her later years, and her amateur status became more apparent as the show went on.
The show itself flowed rather strangely, with an odd mix of audio and visual props as Kath transitioned between a continuous monologue of her long-lived life, and short skits of acting out what happened, trying to throw a bit of funny in the mix also. I felt, however, that this only detracted from the integration of the show; for a long while you are seated in a comfortable stupor laughing along with the ups and, mostly, downs of Kath’s life, and then you are ripped from this as a random out-of-no-where audio file is played over some very loud speakers above you. From here, Kath tries to remember her place, falters momentarily on her positioning and pushes on.
The content that Kath had on stage was solid and, for the most part, well performed. The only down side to this would be the fact that I was one of very few audience members under the age of around 40, and the show is very stylised to those of Kath’s own age. With a trip down memory lane starting from the 60’s all the way through the 70’s, 80’s up to today, there was a lot of stuff there I just didn’t relate to. With that said, there were a few golden moments when I did have my hand over my mouth, laughing very hard with the thought of “she didn’t just say that” running through my head. A few of these moments include referencing the cold-sore riddled Schoolies and telling her own child to say that she took thalidomide.
Although this raw comedy show seems to be trying to push together stand up comedy and a one-woman-life-show, what I can say is well done to Kath! For a woman who has only recently entered the battle ground of comedy festivals, and for an opening night nonetheless, well done indeed! Good luck to her and her production team over the next few nights and I do suggest that if you are up for it, go check out Kath on a Hot Tin Roof. This is one that I would definitely say ‘take your parents’ to, or even the grandparents!
Click HERE to purchase tickets to this event
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