A witty mash-up of literature and contemporary culture: Codpiece’s ‘I’ve Got a Text’ review
Last weekend saw Codpiece’s I’ve Got a Text devised theatre production take to the stage in the FAB. An ingenious literature-based spin-off on Love Island, the play followed ten characters from literature history battle it out to win best couple, at the aptly-named ‘Casa Novella’, hosted by Dr Jekyll (Harrison Smith), and sometimes Mr Hyde…
The cast embodied their literary personas while also seamlessly blending them with Love Island character tropes as well as contemporary internet slang and references
The premise lent itself to clever references and puns relating to each character’s source material; my favourites being Odysseus introducing himself by saying, “It’s a long story”, and Jekyll describing Lady Macbeth as being bad at washing her hands.
The cast embodied their literary personas while also seamlessly blending them with Love Island character tropes as well as contemporary internet slang and references. For instance, Rosie Kennedy as Medusa embodied the vain, catty character type, reimagining her canonical ability to turn those who saw her face to stone into a “lethal face card”. Lucy Townley as Odysseus, meanwhile, adopted a harsh Essex accent and leaned into the ultra-masculine macho energy of the character, depicting his hubris through muscle-flaunting and excessive flirting with Medusa. The play also mixed in tropes from other shows, including a Drag Race-inspired lip-sync battle between Medusa and Lady Macbeth to determine who got through to the next stage.
The Love Island-inspired 2010s pop music for each character’s introduction brought them into the 21st century, while livening up the show’s atmosphere
Medusa and Odysseus were the clear standouts in the first half, being the strongest personalities, and as such they were afforded more jokes and time on stage. Unfortunately, this led to other characters not receiving as much attention or development over the course of the show. Arguably Oz Townsend’s Mad Hatter and Mr Toad, and Sally Brown’s Sherlock Holmes were shunned a little, with Hatter being eliminated after both his partners were killed and Mr Toad being killed in his first scene to make way for power couple Blanche DuBois (Rosie Kennedy) and Lady Macbeth (Ben Barrett). As a result, these characters had less opportunity for their personalities to shine and instead acted as pawns to orchestrate the main relationships. Personally, I would have liked to see some more of Mr Toad’s physical comedy and interactions with the other contestants.
One of my favourite parts of the production was the music, accompanied by dance routines from the contestants and their host. I particularly enjoyed Dr Jekyll’s dance moves during scene changes, consolidating his character as the cheeky dating show host, reminiscent of Paddy McGuinness on Take Me Out. While unexpected, the ensemble dance routine to various candy-related songs for Wonka’s introduction was perfectly goofy, encapsulating the tone of the source material. The Love Island-inspired 2010s pop music for each character’s introduction brought them into the 21st century, while livening up the show’s atmosphere, with the audience joining in by singing and dancing to the different hits.
It had me laughing out loud for most of the show at the absurdity of its wacky characters, and the genius of its script
This sense of audience involvement was maintained throughout the show, with the Mad Hatter handing out cards for a card trick and undergoing an audience match-up to find a partner. And, in the end, it was the audience who were called upon to vote for the best couple, with Blanche DuBois and Lady Macbeth winning by a landslide.
Overall, I’ve Got a Text smashed my expectations and ended up being an extremely smart and witty comedy, expertly crafting a mash-up of various cultural references in a way that was entertaining and undeniably hilarious. It had me laughing out loud for most of the show at the absurdity of its wacky characters, and the genius of its script.
★★★★
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