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A wacky roller coaster

A hilarious storyline that borrows unabashedly from British comedy

DIFFERENT EACH TIME From " A Very British Affair"

`A Very British Affair', strangely enough, was born at a party.

Originally a 20-minute tribute to British Musical Theatre, the production was designed for the British High Commissioner to Singapore's Christmas Party. It turned out to be so successful on that night that the team decided to extend it to a full-length show.

The result is a hilarious, wacky roller coaster of a storyline, which borrows unabashedly from British comedy, features the music of everyone from Andrew Lloyd Webber to Gilbert & Sullivan and pays tribute to some of the greatest British musical comedies of the last century. Don Quixote makes an appearance, Shakespeare pops in — admittedly in a rather unorthodox fashion — and the lovely "secret female guest artiste" Dame Mary Sunshine hijacks the performance for a while. This, after all, is a world where Salman Rushdie is a man who "translates Noddy into Russian." Where Ariel Dorfman makes washing powder. And Kylie Minogue is British. ("Well, she lives in the U.K.")

With sketches that fans of British comedy will find fascinatingly familiar, this musical revue features three performers who tightrope walk between following their evolving script and playing it by ear.

"The show is different every night, simply because audiences respond differently to different things, so it's never boring for us as performers as we are never sure how it will turn out," says Mark Waite, director of the production. The group's first musical revue — Escape Theatre stages contemporary text-based theatre and works in the area of arts education in Singapore — `A Very British Affair' brings together a dynamic duo: London West End star Matt Jasper and Escape's Artistic Director Mark Waite. Their singing and hilarious verbal sparring are set to music by the talented Ian Lee, on a baby grand piano, who creates beautiful new arrangements for the already well-known and well-loved music that this production showcases.

SHONALI MUTHALALY

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