Multi-media Fringe shows always seem like a great idea, but once you’ve seen one you probably don’t want to see another. It isn’t that they are all bad, but most of them are badly produced and come across us a bulky mix of live action, prerecorded material and awkward pauses. Paul Wagner doesn’t seem to have this problem as God Inc. comes across as slickly as any live show.
Wagner plays a whole host of characters, from a hippy Jesus to his own, scary, ex-girlfriend, with considerable aplomb, in a mixture of live action and pre-recorded reactions. Given the logistics of this sort of performance, so much could go wrong, but Wagner’s timing is excellent and God Inc. runs like a well-oiled machine.
Despite being an intelligently written dig at corporate America and organised religion, God Inc. fails to fully ignite the audience. While much of the humour - especially Jesus getting pissed at losing royalties to the Gideons - hits home, some of the visual references are exclusively American and don’t translate to a foreign audience, as such, detract from Wagner’s message. It also soon becomes clear that Britain isn’t nearly as like America as we think, and while this is a relief, it does mean that the show is a little above our comprehension Wagner has some very good material, oodles of wonderful ideas and charisma by the bucket load, but God Inc. just isn’t right for a non-American audience. It’s very funny, but you can’t help wish that it was more relevant to us.
3/5
Richard Biggs
