Before I attended King Kong, Daniel Clarkson’s bonkers stage parody of the 1933 film classic, last week at The Vaults, I never knew there was such a thing as a nose flute.
Now I will never forget! A diva nose flautist is one of the hundreds (?) of characters portrayed by King Kong‘s multi-roling cast of five – he gets his moment in the spotlight when Kong is hauled back to New York and displayed as part of a vaudevillian line-up of entertainment.
At the laughter-filled post-show Q&A I chaired, an audience member challenged cast members Sam Donnelly and Brendan Murphy to nose flute-off. Check out the video below of part of the competition, including a Sweet Caroline singalong – and the photos, care of Peter Jones, in which I handle said nose flute myself – eeughh! (The audience member diplomatically declared it a tie! And by the way, I also now know that you can buy nose flutes online. Go wild.)
The nose flute competition was just one of the highlights in a rollicking Q&A that carried on the high-octane silliness of the show itself. In the 80-minute adaptation, directed by Owen Lewis, the intrepid cast – also featuring Benjamin Chamberlain, Rob Crouch and Alix Dunmore – as they journey through uncharted waters in search of the Eighth Wonder of the World, a gorilla so enormous he instils fear in all who set eyes on him. As hunter becomes the hunted, the story journeys to the iconic skyline of New York City where one burning question must be answered: just how many bananas are needed?
King Kong A Comedy continues at The Vaults until 27 August 2017. For more Q&A photos, Terri’s top seven silly moments and other live-tweeting, visit TerriPaddock.com.
Terri Paddock founded WhatsOnStage.com and the WhatsOnStage Awards, running the company and its events from 1996 to 2013. Terri is also the author of two novels, Come Clean and Beware the Dwarfs, and has previously written for the Evening Standard, Independent, The Times and other national publications. She is renowned for her 'legendary' post-show Q&As and also produces the annual Critics' Circle Theatre Awards and acts as a digital, content strategy and event consultant for theatre, producers and other clients. She tweets about theatre at @TerriPaddock.
