★★
Adelaide Fringe Festival. The Bally, Gluttony. 18 Feb 2023
5 Mistakes That Changed History is gentle comedy, but the show doesn’t quite reach the promise of its advertising.
Paul Coulter has researched interesting facts about five historical figures, ranging from Cleopatra to Alexander Fleming. With these facts, he posits that the historical characters made ‘mistakes’ that changed the course of history. Unlike Coulter, this reviewer doesn’t have a history degree (and so won’t argue with him) but humbly suggests that the facts presented are not mistakes but are really poor decisions that either resulted in disaster or in serendipitous outcomes. The distinction is key, because it impacts the nature of the humour that potentially follows: how might the mistake have been avoided, or what might be the circumstances of a different decision.
Some of the stories were more amenable to sharp and cutting witticisms, others less so. In between the sketches, two actors join Coulter on stage and play the roles of the aggrieved historical figures. These interludes struggled to generate any noteworthy humour and generally dragged on the pace and overall impact. The patter from the two actors wasn’t really strong enough and came across as being somewhat forced. They almost appeared to be unsuccessfully improvising.
The basic concept of the show is sound, and the audience was up for a lesson in history and visibly enjoyed learning a few interesting facts. They laughed, but the show fell short and ended up a giggle rather than a belly laugh.
Kym Clayton
When: 18 Feb to 19 Mar
Where: The Bally, Gluttony
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
