Hold On To Your Butts ★★ Arcola Theatre | Dec 10, 2024 - Jan 11, 2025


Enjoyment of a parody is often proportional to one's degree of familiarity with the original, and that is certainly the case here. The performances are awesome and Jack Baldwin and Laurence Pears transition from one Jurassic Park character to another with astonishing facility. And then, they manage to become dinosaurs! Their professionalism and comic timing are awesome, and the ability to use only the most basic of props to create the film's scenes is terrific. Both actors display an extraordinary manic energy, and both manage to engage the audience's imagination. The display of how sound effects are created is also great fun, and, truth be told, our attention did occasionally wander over to watching the terrific work of Charlie Ives. Unfortunately, however, the trio's efforts cannot make up for the fact that there is too much dependence on the audience knowing the Jurassic Park story and being able to identify all the characters from taglines, vocal intonations or other attributes. There is also an assumption that one is familiar with the actors in the film. Ultimately, it is all just somewhat confusing and falls a bit flat if you don't come to Hold On To Your Butts with this knowledge base. While younger members of the audience will relish the silliness of it all, for the rest of us, the show seems on the verge of being less of a parody and more of an in-joke.

Rated: ★★

Reviewed by J.C.
Photo by Mark Senior

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When, Where, Getting there:
Map & Location: 24 Ashwin St, London E8 3DL, UK

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