I chanced upon Daniel Kitson about 5 years ago at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and loved his brand of self deprecating, slightly offensive humour. Since then I’ve seen his stand-up shows a number of times and he’s climbed higher and higher up my favourite comics list. So, when I heard that a few years ago he had all but stopped his stand-up, and instead had started writing and performing theatre pieces that were basically an hour and a half monologues, I was a little worried. I finally got the chance to see one of these and suffice it to say, there was nothing to worry about.
66a Church Rd is the story of Kitson’s relationship with a flat in London (Crystal Palace to be exact) over the course of about ten years. From the initial renting period, to the long, drawn out attempt to buy the place, to the sad goodbye. With this subject matter, there could be a chance that this is about as exciting as watching paint dry. However, Kitson is a master storyteller, weaving in a good amount of pathos and humour to help an already interesting story along. It’s easy for most people, and I’m guessing everyone who goes to see him live, to relate to Kitson’s stories. They are every-day stories that could happen to anyone, but his delivery and the insights he offers inside his head raises this to something that feels familiar, but completely enthralling at the same time.
The brilliance in 66a Church Rd is how the story is constructed. When Kitson is speaking, he is talking solely about his connection and his time spent in his flat, and his relationship with his landlord. That is, he reveals little about what actually happened in the flat; the relationships formed and broken, the friendships grown and cultivated, his career and life otherwise. Instead, when the lights go down between the ‘chapters’ of 66a Church Rd, we are treated to small voiceover snippets of this personal history from his time in the flat. Completely out of context, and with no point of reference, they act as a crack, which you can peer through and get a fleeting glimpse of how he actually lived in the flat.
This is also where the brilliant set comes in.
Kitson is alone on stage, surrounded by a mountain of old suitcases. This, he tells us towards the end, is a fragment of his life after 66a Church Rd. He lived out of suitcases in various countries for a year or so, but never truly left Church Rd. During the voiceovers, small rooms are lit within these suitcases, revealing achingly beautiful miniature models of various rooms and aspects of Church Rd that act as a perfect metaphor for the tiny glimpse we are getting of Kitson’s life.
My only regret was not getting enough sleep the night before seeing this. Kitson’s voice and style of storytelling lull you into a relaxed state that can easily see you nodding off after 90 minutes. This was only remedied by Kitson himself almost fainting onstage and having to be revived with emergency Jaffa Cakes from the balcony.
While you don’t get to see the razor sharp wit that won Daniel Kitson the Perrier Award in 2002, 66a Church Rd is a slightly twee but remarkably enjoyable theatrical piece of storytelling. If you get a chance, I definitely suggest catching this before he heads to Edinburgh.
66a Church Rd is playing at the New Players Theatre until the 13th ofJune.
