Writers: Ian Chapman Black and Levenka Andrea
Director: Tracy Collier
The silent film era was perhaps the greatest period for mime and slapstick comedy. Without sound or dialogue, comedy was purely visual.
In the similar dialogue-free Reel Life, creators Levenka Andrea and Ian Chapman Black play Algernon and Bruno, a duo of physical comedians. Their mime is accompanied by ragtime piano, their costumes largely Vaudevillian interpretations of black tie. But the wiry Algernon’s trousers are missing, as is the muscular Bruno’s shirt.
The duo’s act starts with some well-rehearsed routines, many involving the pair’s hats and some amusingly entertaining sparring. It’s some fine character work that highlights Andrea’s flexibility and Black’s contrasting bulk. As the initial novelty of seeing some nostalgic mime work begins to pall, though, some elements of plot begin to intrude.
As Algernon reveals that he is going solo, the faux tensions of the duo’s performance become more real as Bruno reacts badly to being left behind. Silent-film-style title cards afford the unfolding tensions some verbiage that the pair’s mime work largely renders unnecessary, but the gradual destruction of a professional relationship adds an extra layer of melancholy.
The work continues to flit between some set-piece work – each performer reacting to the tuning of an invisible radio, for example, from can-can dancing to yoga meditation – but then matters take an even more sinister turn. From being a passive reflection of the onstage story, the projected title cards start to assert control. There is a sense of an external force dictating proceedings, goading the pair into a much more combative and physically adversarial conclusion to their relationship.
As typography and music choices inject some more modern sensibilities into the retro charms of Algernon and Bruno’s performance, it appears as if the work is passing commentary on the changing face of cinema. Cartoon violence gives way to a more visceral style, a suggestion that audiences crave true physical cruelty.
As Bruno is cajoled by the unseen force into wreaking revenge for Algernon’s betrayal, we hear the first and only words of the piece, a plea for mercy that goes unfulfilled. The sort of comedic mime with which Reel Life starts has been killed by the bloodlust of an audience that demands verité.
As a show, it can be enjoyed purely as a well-executed tribute to the sort of physical mime that made household names of Keaton, Chaplin, Lloyd, Laurel and Hardy. But its modernised trappings ensure that Reel Life is more than just a wallow in nostalgia and instead makes some salient points about how entertainment has changed over the past century. It is a change, the show’s mime work suggests, that has not been for the better.
Runs until 24 June 2026
