Billy

By Edfringe05,derek - 18th Aug 2005

Enter the surreal world of the three guys who each think they are Billie Holiday. This deliciously ridiculous piece is deceptive – there are dark moments which tellingly contrast their isolation in a condemned London flat with the vicious reality of being a gay man who thinks he is a black woman in Kidbroke. We visit New York, LA, Washington and Alabama, all in the confines of a council flat. Billy 1 gives a hilarious account of how to find the flat with beautifully timed deadpan delivery. Each of the actors creates a convincing character of his Billy: each sharing elements, but each distinct. Their twisted use of Billie’s biographies as tests heightens their confusion, and ours. The rhythm or the play builds with glorious illogic to… nowhere. "I’m a fool to want you" – but I do. This is what fringe theatre is all about.

Derek Benfield

Smirnoff Underbelly 17:20 to 29 Aug