As Shoshana McCallum dances onto the stage to the song Cotton Eyed Joe in her new solo comedy show Merely Beloved she is smiling and looking happy. So it’s a bit of a shock when her character, Elaine, shares with us that her husband Joe has recently died? What the hell? Elaine does seem that sad. But then this is a comedy show, maybe there’s more to this story than her nonchalance indicates.
Sure enough, while this is a very well scripted and performed piece of comedy there is a tragic and at times poignant story behind that upbeat delivery.
Elaine shares various stories of her life with Joe such as the day they met in a Birkenstock shop she was working in. The night he proposed at a nightclub. Through these stories we learn that Joe was a prankster and Elaine was never perhaps sure if he loved her. The relentlessly upbeat personal she has slips now and then and we can see she is grief struck, but maybe, just maybe this is some cosmic joke and she’s protecting herself from heartbreak.
This is a very good story and it is very well told. There are laughs a plenty, and some delightful surprises including an argument in a cemetery with Joe’s deceased first wife. There are replayed scenes with Joe’s sister and brother and a hilarious encounter with a medium as Elaine tries to get some sense of closure. She denies she believes in ghosts or mediums for that matter, but she is clearly obsessed with them.
What unfolds with this show is a deeply emotional story of a woman working through the loss of someone and trying to be stoic. It is very funny, and very touching at the same time. Shoshana McCallum is a great actress and story teller who brings this tragicomedy to life with wit and a whole load of energy. This is one hell of a clever show.
Merely Beloved – Shoshana McCallum
Auckland
Dates: Thu 8 – Sat 10 May, 6.30pm
Venue: Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre, 50 Mayoral Drive
Tickets: $30 – $35
Bookings: aucklandlive.co.nz // 0800 111 999
Wellington
Dates: Tue 20 – Sat 24 May, 7pm
Venue: The Dome at BATS Theatre, 1 Kent Terrace
