Melbourne Fringe: Happy Birthday Doctor

I very much enjoyed The Last Temptation of Randy recently and it reminded me why I love fringe festivals so much. It’s shows like Pop Mashup: Happy Birthday Doctor that remind me why sometimes I forget this.

Promising a collision of the worlds of Doctor Who and Harry Potter with some internet memes, I thought we could have a snappy and funny play here. I was, to put it mildly, surprised to find firstly that it wasn’t, and secondly that it was also a musical where inessential songs combined with superfluous “dance” routines to interrupt the action. The unsubtle show suffered from some basic issues such as repetition of choruses making the show drag, ineffective voice projection from some actors, and the pop-culture references were far too predictable and sparse to give the show zing.

Maybe this art form can’t be understood by just anyone now because it’s a result of a temporal anomaly that made it fall by accident into 2013, well before its time?  Perhaps it’s best to judge for yourself by looking at one of the company’s other productions: Time Titties. You’ll get a good the feel for the show and be able to make an informed decision on how to use your valuable Fringe time.

If you really, REALLY love Nyan cats or can’t quite remember what bemusement feels like, then by all means, this is a show for you. Others might wish – pretty quickly – they could be rescued by a Time Lord or Hermione Grainger.