An artfully-embellished one-man show with sleuthing, vermouthing, and a mimed penny-farthing chase, Early Grave, Fashionably Late at The Butterfly Club is a comedy for those who keep their brow high and their bow tied.
Fearless explorer. Audacious dandy. Reluctant detective. Victorian-era Dublin’s consummate gentleman-adventurer (and rakish raconteur) damn near loses a cufflink in an astonishing tale of derring-do – and don’ts. Murder! Villainy! Corruption! Hyperbole! Physical storytelling prowess with a Wildean flair.
Bennett Cooper Sullivan would much rather be off on an expedition to the distant, dangerous regions of the globe, mapping jungles, racing rhinos, and dining on galapagos turtles. Instead, he’s back in another Dublin drawing room, recounting his latest adventure to thrill society dowagers with far too little excitement in their lives (and far too much money) into bankrolling his next one.
On this occasion, however, the city offers a few thrills of its own, as Sullivan becomes the accidental witness to a mysterious murder. A few useful pointers on evading creditors, moustache-waxing, and umbrella-to-umbrella combat are thrown in for good measure.
Christopher Samuel Carroll (writer, performer) is a graduate of the prestigious Ecole Internationale de Theatre Jacques Lecoq, Paris. Through his company, Bare Witness, he produces solo and ensemble work in Dublin, Paris, and beyond, with a commitment to theatre that is physically rigorous and bristles with life.
From an empty stage, worlds emerge, set alight by the spark of imagination, and helped along by some tongue-in-cheek mime. Early Grave, Fashionably Late debuted at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, then dazzled at the Wexford Spiegeltent Festival in 2015.
“A wild adventure that will have you giggling the whole way through… A really well-performed and funny piece of character storytelling that I would recommend to anyone interested in an in-depth yarn.” – Broadway Baby
Early Grave, Fashionably Late
The Butterfly Club, 5 Carson Place, Melbourne
Season: 13 – 17 December 2016 – 8.30pm
Information and Bookings: www.thebutterflyclub.com
Image: Christopher Samuel Carroll as Bennett Cooper Sullivan in Early Grave, Fashionably Late – photo by Alexander JE Bradley