Filling The Plot Hole
MABONENG - Cape Town-based funny men, Stuart Cairns and Westley Cockrell, brought their two-man stand-up comedy play, The Plot Hole, to P.O.P. Art in Maboneng.
The Plot Hole was a story, within a play, within a comedy show, that was presented at the popular venue on 20 October.
P.O.P Art, an independent Johannesburg-based theatre, production company and performing arts centre, can be seen as a platform that allows these types of productions to be staged in hopes that they will receive recognition and funding in order to be staged again in the future.
Up-and-coming comedians, Cairns and Cockrell, envisioned a show that they would present in a style that would make the audience feel as if they were watching a DVD. The set design was produced at a minimal cost but styled in a quirky way that drew the attention of the crowd before the show had even begun.
The comedians explained their inspiration for the production … What they had initially intended for the play was that it would be a Christmas story for children and pensioners. The play would be about a bookstore that would propel a grumpy librarian and an avid reader to escape each other through the books in the store.
After trashing the idea, they resorted to the DVD plot where they set the stage to look like the title menu of a DVD, with each chapter being a stand-up comedy show by one of the two men. While they did produce a few laughs, unfortunately, the show was under-rehearsed – with the comedians cracking up with laughter throughout the show and forgetting their lines a number of times.
The stand-up comedy was much more enjoyable than the acting, but with more practise they could become more relatable.
Working in favour of the comedians, Maboneng is a place for the odd and off-centre to flourish, so perhaps the show may make its way back to the stage in the near future.
