Sequins and Lies at The Vault Festival

Sequins and Lies

Sequins and Lies is a one man show by Matt Tedford which deals with the relationship between Tedford and his father. We follow Tedford on his journey from his father leaving his mother to him discovering his love of Streisand and from the revelation that his half-bothers don’t know of his existence to his family coming to support him at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Whilst the show is labelled as a work is progress I do think that the structure is already spot on. Whilst the show is chronological it was well paced and the roller-coaster of life was nicely depicted to ensure that the lighter moments provided some relief from some of the more emotive content. The story itself was also refreshingly honest and I enjoyed Tedford’s style in telling in, flicking between a one man play to discussion with the audience. It had the effect of making the play feel very intimate.

The show is sold as a Cabaret show, but the song element is the side that could be developed further. There were nice touches such as the Streisand song, even if the delivery of the song was not the most tuneful. It would be nice for these moments to be weaved into the narrative more seamlessly. I liked the reason for the song choices but equally during the songs this was when more thought could be given to the delivery and the narrative behind it.

The technical effects are understandably kept simple but the simple lighting was effective in creating the required moods and smaller pools of light as Tedford moved across the stage.

Overall Sequins and Lies has a really lovely, intimate feel to the story, once the musical element is developed further this could be a really touching but fun piece of theatre.

Sequins and Lies is on at The Vaults Festival until the 8th March.

If you like this review you might also like the review of Margaret Thatcher Queen of Soho, United Queendom and Be More Chill.

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