Alfie Ordinary: Help! I Think I Might Be Fabulous

Alfie is far from ordinary, Alfie is clearly fabulous, the product of a time when gender fluidity is acceptable, where flamboyance is the the norm and love can express its self in any way it chooses – and Alfie is living that dream, because it is a dream. Alfie sings and dances and jokes his way through his life story, his drag parents, his fabulous school and his friendship with a boy who is out of place because he is… well he is ordinary. It’s a life lesson and a love story too and the intellectual content of what this show is really about clearly has potential. In particular his off stage description of how Siri might explain the off side rule to a closet football fan, hysterically funny and very cleverly constructed. The potential is all there but the late explanation of the core of the show detracts from the whole, feeling a touch patronising for those of us who “got it” and sailing clearly over the heads of the audience members who did not and simply saw Alfie as a funny moppet frolicking on stage. I think this show has relevance and legs and that “Alfie” will use those legs to develop this into a real hit.

Speigel Bosco

Brighton Fringe

Andrew Kay

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