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Do you remember the vibe in your secondary school drama class? The one with the teacher who took their shoes off in class? Where there was no such thing as a mistake, no such thing as a bad story? Channel that vibe into a meta conversation about why we make art at all and you have 'Derailed'.
This is Mercè Ribot and Patricia Rodriguez’s leaving party: the Brexit vote means they’ll probably have to return to Spain, leaving twelve happy years in London behind, pulling up their roots behind them. The stage is crowded with balloons; Ribot and Rodriguez, bickering in Spanish, handing out party poppers and plastic glasses of cava, are dressed in festival-appropriate sequins. Behind them, a grid of pastel lights fill the air with a disco glow.
If you’re at 'Derailed' expecting some serious reflection on the Brexit vote, then you’re in for a surprise. The piece veers off-track within five minutes: the party-going audience are at an early 2000s protest conducted in Catalan (with subtitles and three nervously laughing audience members in wigs on stage); or they are watching another audience member make gazpacho; or they are party to a live video call with Rodriguez’s father. What’s happening? Is it art? Is it significant? Who cares! The important thing is that people are laughing.
Dourly charismatic Dan Lees and quiet, gentle Keir Cooper provide the musical backdrop to Ribot and Rodriguez’s caper – Lees is an especially good support, giving twinkling Ribot and sweetly earnest Rodriguez the foil they need to shine. The four burst into song between mismatched scenes, rocketing wildly between political commentary, emotional reflection and absurdist humour.
Derailed is a hysterically funny mix of sketch comedy, musical stand-up and interactive theatre (if you’re not prepared to have a half-naked Rodriguez crawl across you in a pig snout screaming for money, maybe sit this one out). It’s silly, it’s irreverent, it’s utterly bananas. Is it about anything, other than the importance of generally making art, however daft? Not really, but I don’t think the team have let that spoil their party spirit.
BY: KA BRADLEY