Packed with details and fuelled by personality, The Wonderful World of Hugh Huges is well worth exploring.
The Wonderful World of Hugh Hughes mostly consists of Anglesey in Wales – Llangefni specifically. He'll make sure you know this before the end of his hat-trick of storytelling feats. Hugh performs 360, Story of a Rabbit and Floating over the next three weeks at The Barbican Pit, bringing his audience three sweet, simple stories from his home town.
In Floating, Hugh takes a back seat and introduces his audience to his dead grandmother, his absent brother and other weird and wonderful friends and foes from his small island home. He re-tells the story of the day the Isle of Anglesey broke away from the Welsh coastline and travelled in a loop through the sea only to land back where he started. Hugh and the surprise star of the night, Sioned Rowlands, who becomes so much more than a sidekick, make use of a xylophone, an overhead projector and some rudimentary slides to conduct a sing-along, and depict the ascent of the Isle of Anglesey to the Arctic.
It's great meta-theatre that pays attention to the little details, which Hughes gladly and knowingly points out. It proves you can show an audience a good time with the simplest of props. It is however a little cluttered. There's a lot happening on stage and as Hughes passes some redundant props around the audience, our focus is scattered. At times it becomes quaint, and might not light up seasoned theatre-goers or comedy connoisseurs.
Hughes' strengths lie in his ability to convey every one of his abstract thoughts, the complete absence of thought and the make-up of a bad mood. If you see only one of his shows, see Story of a Rabbit. With a child-like sense of discovery, Hughes reflects on the two times in his life he's seen a dead body. The first in 1995 was his neighbour's rabbit; the second in 2001 was his father's. By turns it's awkward, sad, achingly empty and full of happy reminiscence.
In 360 Hughes seeks out a new perspective. He travels away from London to Wales where he climbs Mount Snowdon with his childhood friend Gareth. Hughes' bad mood is hilarious as he runs around on stage trying to lift it. He's generally a bit of a happy chappy so when he finds himself down in the dumps thanks to a miserable Londoner, it takes an angry sheep and some serious, but adorable confrontation with Gareth to get him over it. In contrast to Floating, the stage is bare and his story is told with indescribable enthusiasm for his characters and his audience. As with all his shows it's Hugh Hughes' warmth and indomitable excitement that propels his performance and wins over his audience.
The Wonderful World of Hugh Hughes runs at The Barbican Pit until 2nd October.
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