Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Liam Hale, Dominic Davies, Rio Matchett, David Paes, Sean Stokes.

The world according to Gregory Bike, a mantra for all the giants of theatre, a man to whom you should listen to with open ears and open minds…a man to whom the word theatre is the be all and end all of life’s pursuit of truth and experience…a man who exists completely as fantastic extension of Liam Hale’s superb imagination and for whom Play With Myself: The Trials and Tribulations of Drama Practitioner Gregory Bike will surely be rated as a must see at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe.

Gregory Bike and Liam Hale, the twin aspects of a mind so attuned to the surreal and adept at making a simple speech uproariously comic, a simple look across the stage at his audience seem the most comically amusing moment that you will see for a year and for whom you would never guess so much humour resided in one brain. Watching Liam Hale put his other cast members through their paces must be like watching a team try to keep up with a young and fresh faced Rowan Atkinson, the cerebral wit that inhabits Ade Edmondson and all wrapped up ready to digest at your own personal pleasure.

For Gregory Bike, the play is the thing, he said that! From his patented warm up routine of the clappy game, through to being inspired by the randomness of a dead dog before him and refusing to give his son the praise he badly needs for his own acting ability, Gregory Bike has spoken and handles the ever turning wheel with the composure of a man possessed, quite what he is possessed by is up for debate, but he certainly won’t let go of an idea when his back is against the wall, an agent who hates hate him and the woman he loves has too close a shave with a buzz saw blade.

There are an abundance of directors who leave the stage arena for too long and then struggle to capture the personal essence of the art form for a long time, as if the safety of looking at the proceedings from a lofted chair has become too comfortable for them. Like a retail manager being asked to come out from behind his office door and giving a helping hand to the under pressure staff, a great director sometimes may feel flummoxed to be back in the gladiatorial ring.

Not so with Rio Matchett who has been one of the reasons why the University of Liverpool’s Drama Society has got such a wonderful reputation to it. The eyes, always questioning off stage, darted and focused like a seasoned pro at all times during this Edinburgh Fringe preview and it was a true pleasure to see her in such a daringly funny play.

From start to finish Play With Myself: The Trials and Tribulations of Drama Practitioner Gregory Bike has the capacity to make people laugh, it is what is needed in the world, it makes the air cleaner and life less oppressive. Liam Hale and his well versed group, Dominic Davies, David Paes and Sean Stokes have created characters just seem so plausible that they exist in the now and for whom Edinburgh should hold no fear.

Play With Myself: The Trials and Tribulations of Drama Practitioner Gregory Bike will be performed at this years Edinburgh Fringe.

Ian D. Hall