Sure, it’s a bloody mess, but it’s a bloody funny mess indeed.
Sure, it’s a bloody mess, but it’s a bloody funny mess indeed.
At least that’s one description of the 2012 premiere of Autopsy, which spatters onto the Fringe programme at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown. Autopsy is the first production to be released out of Captain Midnight Productions, an independent company comprising Rhodes Drama alumni and current students and which seeks to provide a platform for performance and creative collaboration.
Captain Midnight is the brainchild of Josh Martin, who graduated with his Honours in Drama from Rhodes University in 2011.
Autopsy, an original script, was Martin’s final examination for directing and writing in 2011, which he has extended into a full-length production for the National Arts Festival in 2012. It follows the tale of Dr Whimple, a mortician, who while losing his grip on reality navigates the final days in his failing family business, Winston Whimple’s Mortuary.
The result is medical mayhem and side-splitting comedy, as power and manipulation give way to something far more sinister. Whatever you are looking for…
Cannibalistic doctors? Personified dogs? Sandton Cougars? Resurrected bodies? Bed pan murders? Mangled lawyers? Wedgie-prone secretaries?
Autopsy takes all of these and mashes them together in one killer comic cocktail. Autopsy features the acting talents of Ed Pepperell, Candace Gawler, Roscoe Ratangee, Tristan Jacobs and Kelsey Stewart and is a showcase of young and exciting performers.
A fantastic success at the Young Directors Season in 2011, Autopsy promises a laugh a minute and is ideal for those who wish to explore the lighter and yet darkly comical side of the Arts Festival. The show runs throughout this weekend.
Performances, in the Gymnasium, are tomorrow at 2.30pm and 9pm, and on Sunday at 4.30pm.
