Fred is a puppet. At the start of the performance this is quite a shock to the little cotton performer. We begin the show by watching Fred coming to terms with his lot in life and trying to understand how his small and versatile body moves. Fred is a puppet in the Japanese Bunraku style. This means that three puppeteers are responsible for his movements. One for arms, another for his head and body and another for legs. Meet Fred is a comedy about the short and eventful life of our little puppet protagonist.
Fred is a very complicated and emotional character. He is unlucky in love, work, friendship and in life in general. The show completely tears down the fourth wall and this offers comedy and relief. Throughout the performance Fred is tormented by the director (Ben Pettitt-Wade) as the egocentric dictator attempts to make the show enjoyable for the audience. This causes Fred to go through an existential crisis that would make Woody Allen seem like a level headed individual.
Despite having no facial features, clothes, fingers or toes, the puppeteers from Hijinx get a lot of personality out of the little guy. It is the endearing comedic personality of Fred that makes the show an incredibly enjoyable one. We follow Fred on a life journey and are with him every step of the way. The set design presents an insight in to what the audience are witnessing. Towards the back of the stage we see a chalk ‘mind map’ scribbled on some black walls. This map highlights various incidents and moments in Fred’s life which we later see acted out on the stage. This emphasises the complexity and depth of the emotions that the puppet is capable of and shows him as a fully rounded character with depth, passions and sentiment.
What makes Meet Fred such a engrossing and enjoyable experience is the message which is hidden behind the comedy. A key scene in the job centre where Fred finds out that he has to loose one of his puppeteers due to his lack of employment presents many questions on state benefits and employability. Meet Fred works on many levels and is definitely one of the stand out puppet performances at this years Edinburgh Fringe.