Closure Cabaret ****

There is a structure, centre stage, concealed by a theatrical short curtain. A show is clearly about to break out.

And so it does: a coquettish, apparently French, MC - Razmatastique- takes to the stage, her movement staccato, deliberate and provocative.

She introduces the premise of this evening’s proceedings: heartbroken and unable to let her former romantic interests go, Razmatastique is going to summon them to the stage in pursuit of closure.

The first apparition is from her childhood – a boy in the character of a pirate. In stark contrast is the wannabee hip-hop artist, taking to the stage in a whirlwind of frenetic energy. Next is an intellectual and serious poet, seemingly transported directly from the Left Bank of The Seine. He is followed by an emotionally unavailable illusionist, then a cowboy and finally a plumber.

These characters emerge, punctuated each time by Razmatastique’s reappearances, in a vaudevillian- style cabaret show that is apparently chaotic, but in reality meticulously controlled.

Maria Ansdell commands the room with confidence and playfulness. Her ability with audience participation is striking. The costume changes seem impossibly rapid, the audience scrambling to keep pace.

Ansdell’s performance is by turns skilful, surreal and sharply intelligent, blending comedy, clowning and physical theatre with ease. The dance to “When I’m Sixty-Four” evoked the spirit of Stan Laurel, while the “Leech, Barnacle, Housewife, Insecure” number is a triumph.

The script can be tightened in places, but this does not diminish from the spectacle. Her clown training at École Philippe Gaulier evident, Maria Ansdell is most definitely a performer to watch.