Swamplesque
★★★★☆ Swamptastic
Assembly Hall: Thurs 5 Dec – Sat 4 Jan 2025
Review by Thom Dibdin.
Does the world really need a burlesque and drag version of Shrek? Surely the piece contains fantasy enough already, what with its singing dragons, dancing dwarfs, comedian donkey and grumpy old ogre.
Ozzie burlesque performer Trigger Happy certainly thinks it does. And so did EdFringe 2024 audiences for Swamplesque: his big, bold, stags-and-hens-pleasing parody. Which is back for Edinburgh’s Christmas at the Assembly Hall where it is busy removing its clothes right through to Saturday 4 January, 2025.
Trigger Happy. Pic: Brian Davidson.
Trigger takes the staring role in this hour long romp, which rightly claims parody status, but has already had to change its name from Shreklesque. He’s perfectly built to take on the role of a great green Ogre in a string vest and moleskin waistcoat.
And when he strips them off to reveal the kind of mountainous belly which wobbles and undulates as he shakes his bootie, topped off with a pair of tasseled nipple pasties, you feel that there is not much further to go. Until he drops into the splits.
ironically appropriate
It is a great piece of character burlesque, and is matched over the hour with a string of similarly clever and well appointed routines. Nearly all performed, lip-sync, to lines from the movie as the show follows its plot, more or less, combined with ironically appropriate pop numbers.
Bettie Bombshell. Pic: Brian Davidson.
So when it comes to burlesque queen Bettie Bombshell’s Lord F, she gets up off her knees and performs her bountiful strip routine to a medley which includes the Flying Lizards’ Money. Nice.
taster
Some pieces are tamer than others. It would be hard for the three little pigs, in their big inflatable fat suits, to do more than provide backing crackling. But the joke works well. In best burlesque fashion, they leave you wanting more as support to Nolens Volens’ Pinocchio’s strip. A taster for what is to come, but which is otherwise the least successful of the fairytale characters.
Trigger Happy. Pic: Brian Davidson.
Trigger himself certainly seems to think that his audience would like some more of his character. And fair enough, as the protagonist of the parodied movie… His best return is in see-through nightwear, sporting a pair of big green feathery fans. Which is, to be fair, like all of his performance, is a real treat.
Sent off on Lord F’s quest to save a princess – and any princess will do – leads to a nicely worked Blind Date styled reveal. Will it be Cinders? Will it be Snow White? Or will it be “Princess #3”, for copyright-infringement purposes? That is big burlesque queen Tash York, as she who lives in the Dragon-guarded tower and has to choose whether she is a girl or an ogre.
big Queen notes
York laces her appearances with the only non-sip-synched songs. And queen that she is, can she hit those big Queen notes? In Somebody to Love? You bet she can. It’s appropriate on every level.
Mirror Man, Christian Nimri. Pic: Brian Davidson.
The other major recurring character is, of course, Donkey: the comedy-laden side-kick who falls for the big Dragon lady, when Shrek finally gets his princess. Welcome larger-than-life twerking queen Henny Spaghetti who is positively mountainous in the role, lip-syncing her life away in most hilarious fashion and providing plenty of on stage passion as she romps outrageously with anything which moves.
Bebe Gunn – the fire-breathing Dragon. Pic: Brian Davidson.
As for Donkey’s love interest, Bebe Gunn is the big conventional drag draw. Well, as conventional as any fire-breathing (briefly and not quite enough, to be honest) Dragon drag queen can ever be. And does she know how to sashay with that giant pink tail – while using it for all sorts of suggestive purposes, of course.
suggestion
And suggestion is the name of the game here. Christian Nimri as a brilliant (literally) roller-skating mirror man who sets out in a bizarre mask – redolent of one of David Mach’s matchstick sculptures – and the most gorgeous mirrored coat. Which of course soon gets dumped for another strip routine.
Just Tugboat Tiffy’s name is enough suggestion. Her appearance as the Ginger Bread Man of course leads – ultimately – to another tease.
Tugboat Tiffy. Pic: Brian Davidson.
Teasing is the operative word here. The whole piece might suggest everything, but it reveals nothing. (There are warnings of nudity – but that is really just in case something does pop out. But nothing does, at least not on purpose.) And it does so with such fun and panache that every whoop and cheer is certainly worth it, whether you have maxed out on the fizzy wine or not.
slickly staged
The whole is slickly staged, makes best use of the black-box staging, incorporating a bit of shadow play, and boasts great lighting. These are all performers who know how to work a stage and a baying crowd – how to lean into the front row and engage the back the room.
So does Edinburgh’s Christmas need a completely non-Christmasy, non-DreamWorks approved piece of comic, body-positive burlesque film parody? Hell yes! And long may such crazy shows as this bring pure belly laughs and joy.
Running time: One hour (no interval)
Assembly Hall, Mound Place, EH1 2LU
Thurs 5 Dec – Sat 4 Jan 2025.
Various times (Not 25, 31 Dec, 1 Jan). Tue/Wed: 8pm; Thurs: 6pm, 8.30pm; Fri: 9pm; Sat: 5pm, 9pm; Sun: 7pm. Mon 30: 5pm.
Tickets and details: Book here.
Swamplesque: www.swamplesque.com/
Many thanks to Brian Davidson – @saint.bri on Instagram – for use of his pics.
The cast of Swamplesque: Standing: Bebe Gunn, Christian Nimri, Trigger Happy, Tash York, Henny Spaghetti and Tugboat Tiffy. Kneeling: Bettie Bombshell and Nolens Volens. Pic: @evilbarbee.
ENDS
