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Theatre

London,

Lizzie Roper: Peccadillo Circus

Description: The comic and actor explores the UK's obsession with sex.



Rating: 4 out of 5 Bruce Dessau's rating
Rating: 4 out of 5

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Trafalgar Studio 2 Whitehall, SW1A 2DY

Phone: 0870060 6632

Transport: Tube/BR: Charing Cross Transport for London

Lizzie hits the spot with her oral history

Lizzie Roper
Getting into character: Lizzie Roper

By Bruce Dessau
15 Feb 2007


This was certainly a novel way to spend Valentine's Night, listening to character comic Lizzie Roper recounting people's sexual foibles.

Using replayed interviews relayed to her live via an iPod and earpiece, Roper meticulously recreates confessions onstage, switching between voxpops as if turning on a verbal sixpence.

The public recontextualisings make each anecdote instantly comical. Think of an 18-rated Alan Bennett. The laughs overflow as we hear about the nerd who performs naked for women - "dressed as Santa Claus, but not very dressed" - or the lady who is aroused by thinking about wellies.

But as the stories build and the characters reappear there is pathos, too, as in the memory of a youthful visit to a prostitute: "The room was dark and she still looked dirty." Elsewhere it becomes apparent that the Jungian analyst is not quite the full shilling she seems.

Roper's performance requires immense concentration and she pulls it off effortlessly. The result is a piece of verbatim theatre that is frankly funny if frequently very filthy - some of the unusual acts described lend new meaning to the term "oral history".

Until 3 March. Information: 0870 060 6632

Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.

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