Two Super Hot Men – Photo credit Cam Harle.One of the great things about the Vault Festival is the sheer range of productions on offer. Over the course of its run, there will literally be something for everyone. Some productions are a treat to review. They are nice and simple. With a standard narrative of start-middle-end. Others are more difficult and really have to be experienced to fully appreciate them. Two Super Super Hot Men definitely falls into the latter category.
Without giving too much away, let’s go. In a foley artist studio, Two men – Alan (Alice Boyd) and Ron (Rosa Garland) – are working on adding atmospheric sound to environment-related films and programmes. You get the feeling they have done this many, many times before. There is a routine to their day, which even includes their wearing of Hawaiian shirts. Ron in charge of tea making and Alan, taking breaks at regular intervals, to look after and nurture the studio plant – Carol. The men are evidently good friends, but there are some underlying tensions as well. Ron is a bit of a prankster while Alan is a little too intense in his ‘relationship’ with Carol. But, despite this, the lads get on well and do all the things you would expect two young men to do. However, things are not going well and, as the planet moves on, and the studio gets hotter, Ron, Alan and indeed Carol, find their little piece of the world-changing and forcing them to change as a result.
And that’s as far as I can go with describing the show. On their website, Alan and Ron describe their show as “A show about (dis)connection with nature, and the power of imagination in a time of climate crisis” and I think that’s a pretty fair summation of the show. It’s a nicely written story with a message. Both Boyd and Garland really work well together and have picked up so many of those habits and mannerisms that are so identified with men. In fact, having seen just how sad it looks, I will be putting rubbish into a bin, instead of throwing it across the room and ‘celebrating’ when it goes in. There is a lot of humour in both the writing and the acting, and you get the feeling that outside of the theatre the two actors are really good friends. That friendship, and the associated trust that is a consequence, really comes over the footlights to the audience.
If I had to describe the show, I would say Two Super Super Hot Men, then I think I would use the word surreal, mean that the elements in it are combined in a strange way that I don’t think anyone would normally expect, like in a dream. Did the show work for me? Well yes, up to a point. I quite enjoyed it, and there were elements I really liked – the music choices in particular both before and during, were excellent. Unfortunately, I didn’t really pick up on the main message of the story until I re-read the web site. I think this is more me than the show itself, which is well put together.
All told, Two Super Super Hot Men was an interesting production with an important message that we ignore at our peril, at its heart and is well worth a visit.
After their critically acclaimed performances with Poltergeist, Alice Boyd and Rosa Garland (aka Alan and Ron) are back to present a new production, Two Super Super Hot Men.
Two Super Super Hot Men is a comedy theatre show about (dis)connection with nature, and the power of imagination in a time of climate crisis. Created, performed and directed by the duo, the show will preview at VAULT Festival (13 & 14 March) and then run at Brighton Fringe (1-3 May). Two Super Super Hot Men is a show involving sweat, drag kings and a space for us to work out our climate anxieties.
Two Super Super Hot Men
https://vaultfestival.com/