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Everyone knows the egg is the new theatre in Bath built especially for children. It certainly is a fantastic performance space, with its small-but-adequate stage, extremely comfortable seats and intimate atmosphere. It is good news they are now putting on productions for the adults as well. The size and intimacy of the venue is perfect for fringe theatre, and what better piece of fringe theatre to bring to the egg than C90 by Daniel Kitson.
Daniel Kitson is one of Britain's most respected comedians. A Perrier and Time Out Award Winner, Barry Award Nominee, and winner of an amazing 14 Chortle Awards, he has more awards then your average comedian! After a sell-out run at the Edinburgh Fringe festival and critical acclaim, Daniel Kitson brings his one-man play about hope, memory and kindness on tour. In C90, Kitson tells the story of Henry, a man whose job it is to file away discarded and undelivered compilation tapes. But on his last day at work he receives two mysterious packages - a tape and a tape player. From here begins a detective story to find out who has sent the tape to Henry, and why. As the story continues Kitson slowly introduces more characters that are connected to Henry's strange tape in some way, beautifully revealing their characteristics and eccentricities whilst never fully going into character, but he doesn't need to. Acting as a narrator, he gives us exactly the information we need to be able to get to know these people and know exactly what they're like. It could have easily been that Kitson's lecturer-like appearance - big bushy beard, long hair and thick glasses - could have made this feel more like a school lesson and less like theatre, but instead it feels more like a friendly old man telling you a story and making you some tea.
The wonderfully simple set, designed by Susannah Henry, of thousands of cassettes all filed on a wall, really adds to the cosy atmosphere and makes it feel like Kitson has invited you into his front room. The story comes to a satisfying conclusion, with Kitson leaving the way he entered and not returning to take a bow. It's such a lovely story, about the everyday lives of a few eccentric characters that you can't help but feel warm inside. As you'd expect, with Kitson being a comedian, it's funny too, hilarious in fact. From returning jokes about what Millie feeds the birds, to Henry listening to a tape - something he's never done before after years of being surrounded by them - it's laughs all the way through. But this story isn't just about being funny, as the flyer says, it's about 'a man's last day in a job that never really existed'. C90 is at Ustinov@the egg until Saturday, 17 February, 2007 | 
