Theatre

Hamster Town

Alan Hindle | Sunday 7 August, 2011 13:30

Darren’s ex-wife thinks he is a bad influence on their young daughter and has denied his visiting rights. She’s taking the girl away to America, leaving Darren feeling abandoned by his own life. On a whim he buys a hamster, and gradually falls into a new, somewhat disturbing existence as the King of Hamster Town. Which, frankly, probably justifies the mother’s bad impression of him. David Ralfe, recent graduate of Le Coq in Paris, has crafted a fine little hairy gem of a show which manages to be both funny and a little creepy. Mime, employed at first a little heavy-handedly, quickly becomes imaginative and graceful. Something as simple as rolling his eyes and Ralfe created for me a hamster on its wheel, the joy of rediscovering love, and a point from which to mark his spiraling descent into a world of shredded newspapers, nibbled lettuce and randomly scattered pellets of poop. Ralfe is so adorable I wanted to slap him, but that cuddliness  turns to thoroughly delightful creepiness as the bereft father becomes the largest monster you could ever want to pet. When I was young I had two hamsters, and the epic, bloody, Grand Guignol conclusion of their small lives marked the end of my childhood, which might explain my finding this show especially disturbing.

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