Note: This review is from the 2012 Fringe

Theatre / 60 min / £12(£11), £10(£9) / U

Showing @ Pleasance Dome, 1-26 Aug (not 13), 17:20

In its heyday, Film Noir was derided by many for its violence, low budgets and ‘un-American’ outlook. A propless one-man show, performed by a Brit, telling the story of a killer-for-hire therefore has all the elements to make the perfect pastiche. Joe Bone is the sole performer (albeit with Ben Roe providing a live score) in this Noir trilogy following the hard-boiled gunman, Bruce Bane. Bone is an incredibly adept performer, whose skill lies in conducting the audience’s imagination with the simplest of gestures. Setting, special effects and even camera angles are evoked with extraordinary ease, while every convention of the genre is incorporated with all the loving irreverence of a Noir nerd. Enthralling, hilarious and superbly acted, Bane 1, 2 & 3 is deservedly a Fringe favourite.