Three Weeks
Are you going
to tick me? The question that clouds every female's mind when partaking in the
latest of dating trends - speed dating and no doubt the question on the minds of
these four Bearded Ladies performing at the Fringe. And the
answer? A resounding yes, yes, yes! If you're a fan of Smack the Pony
and Dead Ringers, then you are sure to appreciate the sarcastic, witty and
comical genius that is the Ladies. A series of fast-paced sketches exploiting
and exaggerating female eccentricities, this is definitely a feminine not a
feminist take on love, work, sex, friends, and sport. The best way this summer
to exercise your cheek muscles! (August 2004)
The Scotsman
KATE
COPSTICK
THIS is impressive stuff. Two
well established female double acts - Messina & Rusling
and McDougall & Donkin - have joined up and made
a foursome that is undoubtedly greater than the sum of the parts. There’s the
tall one, the tiny one, the cuddly one and the blonde one - and they’re all
good. Their sketches and characters are generally well written, well observed
and well performed, although occasionally the subjects are a little bit worn
and some scenes have a tendency simply to stop.
This is comedy with its head on
and there are flashes of sheer genius. There is an outrageously clever sketch
performed half in Chaucerian English which the Monty Python boys would have
been proud to own, a brilliantly observed aerobics teacher, and a marvellous moment with a woman who has become Fr ench (to explain too much would steal the Ladies’ thunder,
and they deserve all the thunder they can get). (August 2004)
The Stage
The Bearded Ladies
To say that Oriane Messina and Fay Ruslings’
latest piece of scripting lives up to its name is to credit the show with no
small achievement. Despite exploring dark issues like sexual frustration and
harassment at work, the Bearded Ladies’ collection of sketches is definitively
hilarious.
Drawing on the accomplished
performances of comedians who differ wonderfully in both appearance and
delivery,
Who else would invent a
situation in which an employee is fired for talking entirely in Olde English? Or in which a woman seduces a lifeguard by
giving up her career as a doctor to volunteer at her local pool? Interspersed
with snap shots of desperate girls on a series of speed dates, the show
exhibits as much understanding of drama as of comedy.
So it is no surprise that
the creators of the show have written for Radio 4 and TV’s Smack the Pony. What
never fails to astonish is the wry wit they lend to every situation they turn
their hand to. Too their credit, the Bearded Ladies have
proved just how funny women can be.
Fringe
Report
Verdict:
Outstanding comedy
The show is an hour of sketches by comedy quartet The Bearded
Ladies.
A headteacher
interrupts her class to order cocaine and vodka, odd questions arise and slack
jaws droop in speed-dating, there's vigourous Spanish
dancing (Olé), an innumerate gym instructor who can't
count to the beat, a hair stylist cutting by mime, and a pr woman who speaks
only 14th century English.
It's undoubtedly one of the top shows for
this year's
Individually funny, and in the pairs, trios
and quartet that they form at different times, each actor makes a strong
contribution. As a group, they have the matchless element of comedy, strong
physical contrast.
Charlotte McDougall's tall and slender; Susie Donkin's petite; Fay Rusling's in
between; Oriane Messina fractionally
wider; they're all lovely. They're aware of how their contrasts in appearance
work with the sketches - something often missing from team comedy. And they're
infectiously funny - as if it comes from inside. All schools have four bad
girls, and this is how they grew up.
Memorable sketches from this night include Charlotte
McDougall importuning a stoic male dummy - a masterpiece of solo acting,
acutely observed and lots of fun - and her fabulous 14th century pr agent. Oriane Messina delivers strong ensemble and
solo performances, memorably as a woman who turns French, and Welsh hairdresser
- with a remarkable ability to evoke pathos, as well as full-on comedy.
Susie Donkin delivers a couple of the night's highlights; as a
scheming parody-infant-feeding mum; and her tour-de-force as an ambiguous South
African estate agent - just glorious. Fay Rusling
delights constantly, including her glorious harrassed
lifeguard, mime-hair-cutting victim, and schoolgirl longing to catch the ball.
It's briskly and subtly directed by Simon
Scardifield, with skilful and apt light and sound
by Bernd Fauler. (July 2004)
REVIEWS FOR THE BEARDED LADIES RADIO 4 SHOW – SERIES 1
BEST OF THE
CHRISTMAS RADIO 2003
A
very funny new sketch programme from a talented team. There’s a running theme of modern dilemmas –
people who wont get of their mobile phones or can’t talk real English, only
management-speak. There’s the executive
who’s become so obsessed with his de-stressing vegetable growing that he goes
to work on a tractor; the young mother who finds she is only capable of
speaking in baby talk; and the most flexible woman in the world, who dreams of
running away from the circus and becoming a computer operative. Look forward to the rest of what promises to
be a highly entertaining series 
THE DAILY
If you enjoyed
C4’s ‘Smack the Pony’, this new sketch show is for you. The
Beard’s poke fun at female foibles,
especially at work: a pole dancer who was a management consultant, a circus
performer who wants to run away to a call centre. RADIO
CHOICE - SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
This new sketch
show features the comedic talents of two double acts,
A new
observational series by four comedy writers: among the fast moving skits is a
woman suffering from empty nest syndrome – her son is only 364 months old and
he’s leaving home – a pole dancing hopeful who glosses over her management
consultant years
[‘We all make mistakes’] THE GUARDIAN, THE GUIDE - SOUND BITES 2004
Innumerate aerobics
instructors, unreadable maps and over helpful waitresses feature in the latest
edition of this well paced sketch show. UNMISSABLE - BEST COMEDY OF THE WEEK THE DAILY
Remember the
radio? Excellent, because it will come in handy over the festive period…
There's some top comedy talent on New Years Eve in the form of The Bearded
Ladies… funnier than standing in a
room singing Auld Lang Syne any day.
GIRL ABOUT TOWN – DEC 2003
More sketches based
on the absurdities of modern life, performed by the talented all-woman
team. THE DAILY
The Bearded Ladies have been guests on
Charlie Jordan’s