Andrew Doherty – Reviewers Welcome… TO DIE! (Fringe review) 5 Stars

5 Stars

Andrew Doherty is a master at clever multi-layered comedy. This year he took it one step further and jumped straight into the meta-literary element of it all to tackle the age-old relationship between artists and reviewers. He is unafraid to challenge the nature of reviewing itself, pointing out the flaws and the bias of British journalism through the hilarious, clueless and downright asinine Felix Chatelier. He is a public school-educated man, born in a family of editors and reviewers, with easy access to the business and unashamed to flaunt his nepotism and connections. He proudly admits four-star reviews are only for his old classmates.

For this third Fringe outing, Doherty weaves his short play around the tropes of the ghost story: a mysterious phone call in the middle of the night leads Felix to a foggy journey to the Midlands, where an old crone welcomes him to a room, and sudden deaths await all those who try to help him. This tale of haunting and demon-summoning goes even more meta when we find out that the mastermind behind Felix’s involvement in this fictitious theatre festival and slasher-horror extravaganza is Doherty himself. He is the one who summoned a devil to punish all reviewers. 

While he is unafraid to poke fun at journalists, Doherty keeps things fair: actors and creators also receive a few shots, underlining the absurdity of giving reviewers power over their lives.

This show has everything Andrew Doherty does best: making hilarious jokes back to back while subtly (or not so subtly) shining a light on systemic inequality and the north-south artistic divide. It’s intelligent satire masked as a play that takes a shot at the artist’s reaction to reviews and the whole reviewing system itself. This was an easy five stars, even though Andrew and I did not go to school together.

Andrew Doherty: Reviewers Welcome… TO DIE! is Upstairs at Pleasance Courtyard from 7th till 30th August