Stories for the Starlit Sky - Daniel Kitson and Gavin Osborn
Review: Margate Theatre Royal, 28th October 2015
Daniel Kitson is a Comedian, master of his craft and respected among his peers and comedy fans alike. He rarely tours, doesn't promote himself and doesn't appear on Television.
He is a creative artist, pushing boundaries with varied projects, including the recent play "The Tree" a two hander which he wrote and performed in (whilst up a tree), and his Edinburgh festival contribution this year, "Polyphony" another Play, in which audience members were given ipods that each contained an individual actors dialog and which Kitson acted alongside.
Gavin Osborn, is his long time collaborator, the two having worked on many projects together. He is a singer-songwriter with an acoustic folk style. In just a short 3 minute song you are often introduced to interesting and complex characters or tales of escapades that are quite captivating. Osborn does have a talent for making you feel invested in his characters, and to feel empathy for their situations in just 3 minutes is quite an achievement.
"Stories for a starlit sky" is like Jackanory, on stage, with songs, but 14.6 times the length with the running time of 3 hours 40 minutes!
The show consists of 3 separate stories, read by Kitson. There is an interval between each one. Osborn's music is weaved into the tales like natural chapter breaks.
"Boom. Break. Boom. Break. Wallop. Hometime."
It begins with a Bedtime story within a story, where we hear about the tale teller as well as hearing the tale told.
An insomniac child is told a story by his father about a village of retired assassins. The audience gets the double treat of hearing a fun and far fetched story about geriatric killers as well as a sweet tale of father son late night bonding. I found both stories quite gripping, as well as funny, as we were learning about the world of assassination and also the mind of a pre-teen who was trying all he could to be allowed to stay up all night.
Osborn's songs broke the tension nicely and left room for the suspense to build.
All 3 of the stories are themed around Love and Osborn embraces this theme, with each of the songs during this first tale containing a mini love story itself, such as the fabulous "Dear Stranger" about a checkout worker writing a love letter to one of his customers.
"It's Hot chocolate O'Clockolate"
(Daniel Kitson: Stories for the Starlit Sky)
The second story is about the night a man and woman first encounter each other and, like all the stories, the Characters are rich and quirky and projected so well they are easy to envisage. They are a mix of the bizarre and the identifiable.
Osborn's melodies this time around provide narrative from the characters featured in the story, each one being about a key point in their lives. The song "Holding it together" is a beautiful tale about when a child leaves home. Every song during this story struck a chord with me, maybe because they related more to the story, which I had vividly held in my mind at the time, or maybe just because life is short and precious and a half lifetime of love being cut down into just a few key moments in song form reminds you of this fact.
When the second story ended I was in tears.
"Of their daughter flying the nest, they recall, just trying their best, to hold on to just one of her feathers.... then holding it together"
(Gavin Osborn: "Holding it together" from the album "Come on folks, settle down")
The Final Story begins, and as all of them were, this one is also set at night, in a building where every act of Romantic love pops out of a printer on a little card and has to be filed by the two night workers.
I liked the world created here, it felt solid in my mind. Kitson's beautifully descriptive scenery and well formed characters were likable as they had been throughout.
There is some flashback in this story, and it is loosely connected with the others, giving a satisfying call back .
The story felt lighthearted as the man and woman working have fun creating games to pass the time and appear to be friends enjoying each others company, but it has a melancholy twist too.
Osborn does not disappoint and the classic "Albert goes out to see Rock bands" is a winner here, as he returns to stand alone songs.
Overall the theme of love was excellent, but not overly twee as it was counterbalanced nicely with the realities of being in love whilst living this normal fallible life. It was bittersweet at times as life and love are in reality.
Both performers excelled, their banter was humorous, their storytelling intriguing and lovely. They work excellently together and their styles and works compliment each other. You can see true friendship between them too which is brilliant.
It made me love Kitson and Osborn more, It made me want to love and be loved more. It filled my heart with joy and a bit of sorrow. I absolutely loved it.
Stories for the starlit sky is on tour right now but there are only a few dates left.
If you can't get to see it, I urge you to go and see either or preferably both of these performers as soon as you can!
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