Review: Dead Static by @ManMothUK Productions

By Carmel Shortall

ManMoth Productions return to the Camden Fringe with this, their second production. Dead Static may have been described as Waiting for Godot in space but perhaps Red Dwarf channelling Steptoe and Son might be nearer the mark. The show relies on that comedy mainstay – two men trapped together, bickering endlessly; in this case until they run out of oxygen or crash into the asteroid belt – whichever happens first.

Tyler is a man with a past, waking up on the floor of a ‘Syndicate’ Cruiser heading towards the asteroid belt in the company of Gary, an irritatingly chirpy nincompoop from Colony C in Mars. Who are they really and what have they done to make the Syndicate so cross  that they are condemned to, at least, two kinds of death? Will they escape certain doom? And are Sumo wrestlers’ nappies as complicated as Gary makes out?  

Despite the heat and humidity in a packed Etcetera Theatre, Cliff Chapman as Tyler and Adam Joselyn as Gary, kept up the pace and ratcheted up the tension to the last moment. Writer and director, Steve Jordan has produced a show full of pop culture references and one-liners as well as a crackling energy while Brett Cohen as lighting and sound technician manages to create an appropriate atmosphere with only a range of eerie ‘space’ noises and flashing lights at his disposal.

Dead Static has boldly gone and finished its short Fringe run now but ManMoth and the show may well pop up again so keep an eye out – they’re on Twitter and Facebook and YouTube.