Dan Wye’s comic creation Séayoncé is back at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe delivering spooky comic silliness with a dash of heart in new show Séayoncé: Res-Erection. Joined on stage with Robyn Fellows who provides musical accompaniment, Res-Erection showcases Dan’s razor-sharp comic grasp of the English language in this delightfully queer blend of narrative, stand-up and cabaret.
Leaving her fortune teller’s box, Séayoncé senses a ghostly presence haunting the Fringe. In order to cleanse the tortured soul of aspiring Fringe performer Toby, Séayoncé must face a darker evil in the Assembly’s Roxy venue.
Wye’s creation of Séayoncé is a wonderful one. She’s a fabulous old diva with a razor-sharp wit and theatrical grandeur in her delivery – think Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard meets Poltergeist’s Zelda Rubinstein. Dan is a gifted wordsmith and they litter Res-Erection with countless moments of beautifully constructed comic puns, filthy double entendres, and observations on daily life which they inject with an exuberant humour.
Opening with some delightfully raucous physical comedy – Séayoncé and her on-stage companion Lesley Ann jump into a plethora of twisted sexual positions between moments of darkness and illuminating lightning flashes. The relationship between the pair soon becomes clear with Séayoncé and Lesley Ann sharing history as prison sisters. Fellows plays Lesley with a delightful gruffness yet there is an underlying sensitivity to the brutality and blood-drenched language that often flows from their mouth.
Séayoncé: Res-Erection brings countless moments of supernatural playfulness to the fold with body-swapping and ghostly possessions providing strong moments of humour, which Dan navigates with a seamless finesse. As the narrative proceeds, Séayoncé delves into solving the broken dreams of one of their spirits – Fringe performer Toby was sadly killed before his performance of Titanic: The Musical and it is up to Séayoncé and some game audience volunteers to make this failed musical a reality. The sharpness of the humour does dip slightly here but it does make way for some themes of self-acceptance, self-love and the pursuit of one’s dreams to take centre stage – as closed in an emotive musical number from Séayoncé .
Séayoncé: Res-Erection‘s spooky celebration of queerness hits some impressive highs thanks to the brilliant comic mind of Dan Wye and their toybox of comic observations, majestic puns and naughty double entendres.