OBSERVER: Guillotine!
Guillotine! or, a modest proposal broaches the nexus between what might be considered offensive and the comic.
Anna Piper Scott poses an ethical conundrum about the killing of billionaires who control people’s lives and the need to maintain social parity.
Comparably, would it have been ethical to kill Hitler as a baby to save the millions killed in World War II?
The ethical debate is managed well and there are some genuinely funny lines in the presentation, but Scott’s admission of having ‘mental health issues’ causes the work to unravel.
Scott is clearly not comfortable on stage. The nervous fiddling of the hair was literally constant and distracting.
The presentation’s structure also had potential. The audience could select from options that led to scenes that were reasonably funny, but Scott didn’t seem to know how long each piece would last nor connect them with sufficient professionalism to make the presentation work as a cohesive whole.
Margot Morales, as an assistant managed some of the audio-visual aids which, again, had comic substance but chaos overruled order. The show became protracted because of it.
Ultimately, the show’s conclusion was a three-page diatribe read by Scott about the state of the world and a failed relationship. Bummer! There was nothing funny or uplifting about it.
It was as if Scott wanted the audience to wallow in the same pit of despair without appreciating that comedy should elevate one above the darkness and find relief in laughter.
Comedy can be transcendent. Comics often negotiate a line between genius and madness. Knowing which side the audience would prefer is what makes for a good show.
Review by David McLean