Showing @ Underbelly Cowgate, Edinburgh until Sun 24 Aug (not 11, 18) @ 20:10
Our impending death doesn’t sound like the best material for funny play but Stuart Bowden has made one. He stumbles on stage dressed in what appears to be a lime green sleeping bag. Welcome to the insane and wonderful world of Before Us. Stuart is in fact an unnamed creature who is the last of its kind. The creature questions their own mortality and asks the audience to do the same.
Bowden is a hysterical comedic performer. He jumps around the stage in over exuberant dances, addresses the audience with fantastically funny stories and performs hilarious and catchy songs. All these elements add up to a thoroughly brilliant piece of humourous theatre delivered by an equally magnificent actor.
The songs are the strength behind Before Us and have the audience humming along during and even after the performance. Bowden knows how to grab viewers and hold their attention, and we are constantly asked to join in with his show. But Bowden also balances his piece with enough emotional content to make you genuinely feel empathy towards the poor creature as it discovers its own impending mortality. Before Us is as funny as it is poignant and Bowden’s performance and ability to weave narrative out of bizarre situations makes the show a memorable one.