Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
A man walks into a comedy club and finds a way to make life better through humour and observational clowning; it could be the start to perhaps one of the most farcical jokes, instead it becomes the punch line to the best evening of wit and the pathos of human tragedy conceived.
Mark Thomas has no issue with pointing out the absurd, especially those who see power as stick to beat the poor and the less than able to look after themselves. It is a gift that everybody should possess that makes Mr. Thomas the way he is, empathy, an ability to see the wrongs laid down and a will to stand up and shout intelligently and with persuasion that the world really shouldn’t be this way; that compassion is not a dirty word and that by tackling any subject, the world around us can break down any wall that is erected out of fear, hate and illogical thought.
Mark Thomas’ latest show sees him bring the story of a group of people from inside Palestine to whom, despite the lack of freedom in their respective cities and the threat of incursions and possible jail sentences, comedy really is looking at the way their lives have become Showtime From The Frontline.
Staring alongside Mark Thomas is two of his star students from the experience of putting together a comedy workshop and the two night experience on stage at the end of it; the wonderfully talented Faisal Abualheja and Alaa Shehada.
It is the recreation of that experience in which the three comedy troubadours’ skills come the fore at the Liverpool Playhouse, the two young Palestinians more than holding their own in the face of the seasoned and politically astute man who has constantly thrilled and educated audiences for the last few decades.
To witness the proof that comedy, humour, a smile can be found in even the most tense and difficult circumstances is to feel that empathy, to laugh with someone and not in cruelty, but to laugh because they have told the finest of stories with a beautiful ending, that is how we see just exactly alike we truly are; souls in need of a story of our own in which we can share the absurd.
Showtime From The Frontline is a performance unlike the last of Mr. Thomas’ performances, the wit and intelligence still radiate superbly, but this was different, this was a show which makes sure all who try their best to rule through the misuse of authoritarian control have no way to combat the greatest of weapons; a joke, laughter and the comic story in which they become the star, the end result of a perfect gag.
Ian D. Hall