Writer: Callum Jones
Hit TV show The Traitors makes its way into the Camden Fringe in the form of a film noir comedy. Sam Marlowe is on the case to discover why one of the contestants in the Australian version of the reality show was more or less cut from the series when it aired. Poor Paul only appeared for just over a second in each episode. Our private detective, in Humphrey Bogart attire, fedora and raincoat, wants to know why.
It’s a fascinating start. Who doesn’t enjoy conspiracy theories? And the conceit of Callum Jones’ fast-talking New Yorker P.I. is a great one, complemented by a black and white film of the detective knocking back cocoa cola as he rewatches The Traitors at home, eager to spot any clue as to why Paul is always out of shot when sitting at the Round Table. Next to Sam Marlowe on the couch is a sex doll with the face of Claudia Winkleman pasted on its head. “She’s some broad,” he tells us, “with a fringe that won’t quit.’
The best conspiracy theory play about a TV show (is this now a genre?) was Carrie Marx’s Unburied, which played at the VAULT Festival some years back, about the missing tapes of a children’s programme. Marx’s play, which had her delving into the dark web, was hilarious and genuinely chilling, but Callum Jones’s The Strange Affair of Paul is less successful.
Jones has a good story, for sure, but his detective work is less exciting than Marx hitting prohibited links on her computer. Jones emails a member of The Traitors production team in Australia but let’s hope that his further emails to the female employee, all done in the style of a misogynist noir P.I., are works of fiction rather than real correspondences.
Also, the wisecracking jokes are a little underwhelming and many just don’t land, often getting in the way of a fascinating story. Jones’s investigator doesn’t offer too many reasons why Paul was edited out, almost to the point of non-existence, from the TV show. Jones’s show could benefit from some further digging into the scandal, even if the theories end up being red herrings. At the moment, there’s just not enough intrigue for his show’s 40 minutes,
But Callum Jones is an entertaining performer, especially when he works with his own image on film. And for those impatient for the next series of The Traitors, this definitely fills a gap.
Reviewed on 7 August 2024
Camden Fringe runs until 25 August 2024
