Defending The Caveman at The Grove
Neighbours star Mark Little takes on the battle of the sexes.
IT was tough warming up a Monday night audience at The Grove but once they started laughing at the anecdotes of actor Mark Little in his hilarious one-man show, Defending The Caveman, there was no stopping them.
A woman behind me collapsed into hysterical giggles, the tears streaming down her face and her body convulsing, shaking a whole row of seats around her.
Another couple in the front row propped each other up as they chuckled and empathised with the former Neighbours star.
It's a simple show but one which has won awards and found fans around the world. Remember at school when you were set essays ? They always started out with a statement. If Mark Little had been set homework it would have been: "Women are wonderful, men are asses. Discuss".
That's the premise of Defending the Caveman. It's an endearing love-letter to his wife, Cath, and to women in general, enveloped in a series of stories that explore the differences between the two sexes.
It's clear that the rather cuddly Australian is passionate about women but also mystified by what makes them tick. It was that inquisitiveness that forced him to face his inner self and confront "the caveman within".
On Saturday comedian Jimmy Carr performed his stand-up routine to packed audiences at The Grove and there's a fine, almost imperceptible line, between his show and that of a solitary actor delivering someone else's script in a one-man comedy drama.
Little isn't a comedian by trade. He's a professional actor who has fronted The Big Breakfast, performed Shakespeare and appeared in films both in the UK and back in Oz. So while his delivery isn't always as slick as a comedian it has the conviction of an actor.
He prowls around a simple set that looks straight out of The Flintstones. There's a stone-age looking TV complete with remote control and integral spear-holder, a sofa, a couple of potted plants, a lamp and a laundry basket. The back-cloth is decorated with two stone-age paintings depicting man and woman.
In 90-minutes we explore women's fascination with shopping, men's obsession with gadgets, life at chez Little, sex, attitudes to life, love and each other.
Men, claims Little, are hopeless at multi-tasking because they used to go out hunting with one sole purpose – to bring back the dinner. That's why they turn the car radio down to read a map or blindly follow their satnav instructions over a cliff.
Women on the other hand are kind, sensitive, able to naturally bond with other women, talk about feelings and emotions. Shop.
"If I had to think with my wife's brain I'd explode," says the performer.
The actor is perplexed. He wears a quizzical expression well and he isn't afraid to use his gender's shortcomings to evoke one laugh after another.
It's a show for adults only purely because of the odd expletive contained in the script but it is genuinely laugh-out-loud funny and packed with the sort of truisms that will be instantly recognisable to both men and women.
Defending The Caveman runs until Wednesday (May 20). Go along for a riotously funny night out. For tickets call the box office 01582 602080 or go online www.grovetheatre.co.uk
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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