Revs go to Hollywood @ Pegg Theatre ★★★★

By Jasper Price, First Year Theatre

Bristol Revunions were back with their latest show Revs go to Hollywood. The show was a whirlwind of laughs, with all the variety and wit that you would expect from a student sketch show.

The intimacy of the Pegg Theatre was the perfect housing for the Revs latest performance - Revs go to Hollywood - a star-studded sketch show of twists and turns. Unfortunately, the audience were a bit thin on the ground, but this didn’t dissuade the Revs from putting on a great show.

The show centres around a group of actors (hence the ‘goes to Hollywood’) who are struggling to make it big. Some argue, others hide their feelings of affection, and another loves a broomstick. The show began with a dance number, which served to draw the audience into the performance. The excellent choreography and catchy singing made it a standout moment. From there, the Revs moved onto a series of sketches about all kinds of things; vegans, hostage takers, Mario Kart, gardening and so on. I particularly loved the sketch about the sexy goblin boy!  The level of variety meant that you could never lose interest, and if you found yourself disliking a certain sketch, another would be just round the corner.

I did find however that some of the sketches were perhaps too short, the punchlines of which were not funny enough to constitute the wait in between sketches. On the other hand, the funky music made even the blackouts enjoyable. After the first series of sketches, there was an interlude where we saw the troop of actors again. This was followed by another series of sketches which were cleverly set up to mimic an old roll of footage being watched by the leader of the acting troop.

My favorite sketch of the night happened towards the end, and for me was definitely the grand finale. This sketch was so random and so ridiculous that it made me question how the hell they came up with it. I’m talking, of course, about the ‘did you see the bear?’ sketch. The sketch began with the immortal words “doctor, doctor”, a classic of sketch writing, and what followed was the most absurdist piece of theatre I've ever seen. When the piece was done, it was played again, exactly how it was the first time, but with the addition of a bear.

The best part of the acting were the facial expressions and voices. The actors were able to convey such depth of emotion just by the slightest change in their faces, which, of course, had the audience rolling with laughter.

All in all, Revs go to Hollywood was a well thought out and terrifically funny performance, worthy of the all the praise which they receive.

★★★★

Featured image credit: Livvie Newman

Did you see the show? What did you think of it?