The Scottish Play (Macbeth) Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppets

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre present William Shakespeare's The Scottish Play

Original Review:

Our hosts for the evening are, as you’ve no doubt already gathered, a pair of socks; ‘you put them on your foot not your cock,’ the naughtier one helpfully explains in their opening song. Like a hosiery version of Morecambe and Wise, the mischievous sock is intent on thwarting the other’s intentions to stage a serious performance to wow the TV talent scouts.

So a talk on deforestation by Ernie sock is sabotaged by Eric sock when he confuses an environmental issue with the man who used to play Bones in Star Trek (DeForest Kelley, in case you were wondering), while elsewhere Eric becomes belligerent during the staging of a Christmas special.

Though largely enjoyable, some pieces are over-long, such as that opening sequence, and the writing isn’t the tightest. However there are some nice self-effacing instants when minor things go wrong, such as props refusing to stay upright and tiny sock-puppet hands not reaching the keyboard in the musical numbers.

There some really lovely moments here too, such as their rendition of The Partridge in a Pear Tree in which bad sock complains about the proliferation of bird gifts but perks up a bit when gifted some illegal immigrant maids a-milking and ladies dancing. Plus a recreation of the mods and dockers clash on Brighton beach is amusingly daft.

Altogether, good footwear based fun.

Reviewed by: Marissa Burgess