Review: He Had Hairy Hands by Kill The Beast at Derby Theatre

'Kill The Beast' writers and performers David Cummings, Natasha Hodgson, Oliver Jones, Zoe Roberts and writer director Clem Garritty have come up trumps with their crazy mock horror show 'He Had Hairy Hands'. They uniquely describe themselves as macabre comedy knitters and this new touring play is their brand new tale of supernatural slaughter. It is very 'ripped out tongue in lacerated cheek with a lopsided smile' sort of humour. They won the prestigious Peter Brook Empty Space Awards in 2014 with 'The Boy Who Kicked Pigs' and are back with another five star winner of a show. I felt privileged to see it this afternoon. Throughout the whole of the one act play the packed studio audience at Derby Theatre are howling with laughter and smiling  in wonder at the clever projection design by Bryan Woltjen. The captivated audience are jolted from wacky scene to wacky scene in ultra quick succession. It is a triumph of total silliness.

There may be a rampant werewolf running amok in the building with the Historiorum ablaze and corpses building up faster than you can splutter a blood curdling “ Is that a Werewol...?” before dropping dead, but the audience are screaming with laughter so who cares!

This is the funniest show I have seen in a long time and it is made so by the sheer creation and lunacy of the actors performances. The supremely energetic cast of four are constantly changing roles and sometimes with a hairy hand's breath of a fraction of a second becoming yet another bizarre character. A brilliant variety of styles are utilised in this show, mime, song and dance, verbal and visual puns and all done with such craft it is an utter joy to watch.

The characters are darkly eccentric bordering on League of Gentlemen freaky but 'Kill The Beast' apply their own interpretations and I loved the absurd-isms of verbal and body language. I can't wait for their next show. Definitely a company to watch out for. "Hoooooowl!"

If you are lucky enough to get tickets the tour dates are 24^th April Derby Theatre, 1^st May The Atkinson Southport, 2^nd May Harrogate Theatre, 15^th & 16^th May The Lowry, Salford.

www.killthebeast.co.uk

Twitter @kill_beast / #hairyhands