I went to a Perfect Place on Tuesday night, and what a delight it was.
The marshmallows sweetly (and forcefully) handed out pre-show, set the tone for the next hour. Walking up the stairs at The Basement was a complete treat- fairy lights lead you into a wood of pastel cardboard cutout trees. The space itself, transformed by astroturf and picket fences became the a perfect little village, resplendent in mint green, baby blue and lavender.
Perfectly content and productive local residents Charles (Eli Matthewson) and Jules (Greta Gregory) are having a perfectly normal and productive day when John (Taylor Hall) stumbles across the town whilst lost in the wood. An intended overnight stopover turns into a much longer stay at the behest of Perfect Place’s founder Doris (Amanda Tito). John quickly becomes accustomed to life in Perfect Place with the help of the town regulator, Ernest (Fasitua Amosa). But things start to unravel and maybe Perfect Place isn’t so perfect…
The plot is predictably Stepfordesque and whilst the high energy characters provided many hilarious power-walking, marshmallow scoffing, tickle-rationing laugh-out-loud moments, I found myself hoping for a grittier conclusion.
It’s a hugely entertaining piece and I was tickled (pastel) pick.
It’s on at The Basement until Saturday.
