It now seems inevitable that every Fringe will have at least one show with a celebrity cast member. This year has been no different with at least four shows boasting a former celebrity in their programme, the least prolific being Men, which stars Jonathon Dutton aka Tad from Neighbours.
As with anything that a ex-resident of Ramsay Street goes on to, Men isn’t expected to be any good and Dutton should, by rights, be rubbish but this just isn’t the case. While the play itself is a little trite and lost in it’s own metaphor, Dutton manages to prove that he can act and does a great job as the drug addicted, philosophising Guy. The same can be said of James Schlesinger as the foul-talking, horny Bob but that’s about where the praise ends.
Okay, Men isn’t a terrible play; it’s just a bit daft. There is a genuinely funny twist in the tale but the lead up to this finale is just a little too strung out and flaccid to be greatly entertaining. A generous marker would round it up to three for the two good performances but that would be selling it too much, so they’ll have to settle for below average.
2/5
Richard Biggs
