Presented by Christopher Wayne in Partnership with Brisbane Powerhouse
Brisbane Powerhouse Visy Theatre, 29th-2nd Dec 2018
Video stores are doomed and as the soon-to-be unemployed Store Manager (Stephen Hirst) glumly packs up the DVD’s, the stores last ever customer (Emily Vascotto) returns some romantic movies. Despite her viewing history, she claims to be the number one Tarantino fan, which he fervently disputes. So to amuse themselves they compete to re-enact Quentin Tarantino’s films using the contents of the video store as props to earn the title and win the mysterious briefcase from Pulp Fiction.
Written by Christopher Wayne, the co-creator of the international comedy sensation The Naked Magicians, Two Man Tarantino is a hilarious nostalgic romp through Tarantino’s cult classics. The pair adapt mops, chairs and DVDs to use as a multitude of weapons, starting with adapting a DVD box to saw off an ear for the iconic and dramatic scene in Reservoir Dogs. In just sixty minutes they re-enact most of the memorable scenes, mimicking brilliantly the characters’ actions and gestures, paying particular attention to Samuel L. Jackson, who is featured in every Tarantino movie.
Directed by Maureen Bowra, Emily and Stephen leap around the stage with acrobatic skill, impressing the audience with their stylistic disco dancing from the classic Pulp Fiction scene between Mia and Vincent.
The first night was sold out, forcing later audience arrivals to sit in the ominous sounding “Splash Zone” which surrounded the Visy stage in the Brisbane Powerhouse. Sheets of plastic were placed at the feet of the front row, but there was no indication of when or how it should be used, adding to the anticipation. Fifty five minutes into the performance and most of the audience had forgotten the “Splash Zone” warning, but in true Tarantino style there was a violent bloody finale re-enacting many of the film climaxes, to the shock and delight of the audience.
The two actors were convincing and energetic in their role-playing using many comedic techniques as a terrific testament to Tarantino’s revolutionary violent and innovative films. Two Man Tarantino is one of the twenty five debaucherous end-of-year performances featuring burlesque, circus, music, theatre and comedy as part of the annual Wonderland Festival.
Gemma Regan
Youth Review:
Two Man Tarantino is a fantastic tribute for all Tarantino fans in Brisbane, with a finale worthy of the man himself. Two Man Tarantino is a part of the Wonderland Festival 2018 that is happening at the Brisbane Powerhouse from 22 November until 2 December. Two Man Tarantino runs from 29 November until 2 December.
The show was hosted in the Visy Theatre which, while small, gave an intimate feeling to the performance. A long queue full of excited theatre-goers stretched out the door and onto the path outside as people eagerly waited for the doors to open. As the seats were non-assigned, when we were finally allowed in, we had to settle for whatever was left. Wisely, we avoided the seats in the front row labelled ‘splash zone’ and, instead, sat a few rows back to the side. However, as the theatre is so small all of the seats gave an excellent view of the stage, as the rows surround the platform on three sides.
The stage was set-up like an old-school video rental store named ‘Red Apple Video’ (a nod to the cigarette brand Tarantino uses in his films) and, while we waited for the show to begin, The Employee (Stephen Hirst) slowly mooched around, rearranging and stacking DVDs. Once everyone was seated (shout out to the guy dressed as Mr Orange from Reservoir Dogs whom I was sure was a part of the show but was actually just a dedicated fan!), The Customer (Emily Vascotto) entered the stage and the play began on the premise that the store is closing down and The Employee is losing his job, The Customer is sad after leaving her good-for-nothing boyfriend, and so each is looking for some company.
Two Man Tarantino centres around a competition between The Customer and The Employee to determine who is the number 1 Tarantino fan by scoring points based on flawless Samuel L. Jackson impressions and car-crash reenactments. They compete to win the actual briefcase from Pulp Fiction and to finally discover what exactly glows gold within it. Together, they reenact some of the favourite scenes from Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, Inglorious Basterds, and Django Unchained, as well as several others. This show is definitely for Tarantino fans as, although you were would certainly enjoy yourself if you haven’t seen these films (or at least a couple of them) as most of the comedy comes from references and in-jokes. The characters recited the ‘Ezekiel speech’, discussed the European ‘quarter-pounder with cheese’ — ‘the Royale with cheese’ (because of the metric system), and discussed and re-enacted Tarantino’s possible foot-fetish — all to the non-stop laughter of the audience.
Two Man Tarantino was directed by Maureen Bowra and written by Christopher Wayne, whom delivered a hilarious show that was loved by the audience. It received a huge round of applause at the culmination of the relatively short hour-long show. It was expertly written and was clearly the brain-child of a huge Tarantino fan. The show also featured some of the most iconic songs from Tarantino’s soundtracks which the audience enjoyed jamming out to.
The very simple set worked well with broomsticks doubling as katanas, DVDs as ninja stars, and popping balloons as exploding heads. Although these props may seem less violent than their Tarantino counterparts, don’t wrongly assume Two Man Tarantino does not feature a healthy (or at least Tarantino-worthy) amount of spraying blood. The climax features an epic fight sequence where blood packets are used to artistically spray ‘blood’ high into the air, across the stage, and into the audience (I said it was a wise decision avoid the ‘splash zone’!) At the conclusion of the play, the stage was left wrecked and blood-splattered. Tarantino would approve. The actors were left exhausted and blood-stained, but smiling. At least they got to find out what the is glowing object is inside the briefcase.
Jasmine Regan Feldman