Oxford Playhouse

Wednesday 3rd March; 7.30pm

“I think that Hughes tried to include the audience to a fault.  If he had not poked fun and had stuck more to the overall plot of his show, I would have found it to be more interesting.” Sarah Groneck ★★★★★

“To begin with, Hughes not only greeted his audience, but made us greet each other, which met with mixed success. Generally, however, the audience were on good form all evening, and many of the most comic moments came from them” Claire Morley ★★★★★

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Hugh Hughes in…360 ★★★★★

Review by Sarah Groneck

In the middle of his performance, Hugh Hughes stopped to ask a question of a theatre reviewer in the audience:

“What did you think about when you were coming here?”

The man stared for a moment.  “Not much,” he said.

“Exactly!” Hughes exclaimed, raising his hands in the air.  “You critics don’t have thoughts to think!”

On the contrary, Mr. Hughes.  As I was walking to the Oxford Playhouse, I was wondering what in the world Hugh Hughes in 360 could be about.  Stand-up comedy? A one man show? I’d seen all its accolades—the Fringe Award winner in 2009, the countless praises from critics, the smiling face on the front of his brochure—but that was it.

So, as I entered the theatre and shook Hughes’ hand halfway down to my seat, I knew that this was going to be a different performance.  And it was. Even now, I’m not sure how to describe his performance.  He called himself an “emerging artist,” and I’d agree.  There were no props onstage and no other actors.  There was simply Hughes, a microphone, a water bottle, and the audience’s imagination.

Hughes was constantly trying to bring the audience into his act, telling a joke that “George”—an audience member—told him before the performance.  When a woman was late to the performance, Hughes singled her out and gave her a hard time.  When a man got up to leave, Hughes declared that he had lost his train of thought and ranted briefly about the horrors of watching audience members leave.  I was glad that I had used the toilet prior to the performance and that I had arrived on time.  How terrible to be singled out and harangued by a performer.

The plot was touching but forgettable: Hughes acted out a scene from his childhood with how “the sculpture of the excitement of building the dam” was created (I won’t describe how or what it contained) and how he rid Jack Johnson’s assertions that he “grow up” from his mind.  I felt as if I really was in North Wales hiking with his friend Garreth, and I couldn’t stop laughing at his freestyle dancing at being briefly reunited with his primary school love.  Despite that, I still left the performance thinking that I probably wouldn’t remember it in a few days.

I think that Hughes tried to include the audience to a fault.  If he had not poked fun and had stuck more to the overall plot of his show, I would have found it to be more interesting.  But, receiving a pin at the end of the show made up for all the critic bashing and the seemingly pointless pauses mid-show.

Hugh Hughes ★★★★★

Review by Claire Morley

Hugh Hughes in 360

Walking into The Playhouse last night, I, and the other audience members, were greeted by Hugh Hughes, star of hoipolloi’s ‘Hugh Hughes in 360’. Not having heard of Hughes before I didn’t really know what to expect. The bare stage, save for a microphone, made me believe that I was perhaps in for an evening of stand up comedy. This turned out to not be entirely true. To begin with, Hughes not only greeted his audience, but made us greet each other, which met with mixed success. Generally, however, the audience were on good form all evening, and many of the most comic moments came from them; with Hughes exploiting mishaps, late-comers, people leaving to go to the toilet and misjudged laughter to a really good effect.

Nevertheless, the format of ‘360’ was a little different to your average comedy show in that Hughes was presenting a story of moments from his life. He began with reference to his childhood, which basically involved building dams and his friend pooing his pants. I have to say that at first, the way he spoke and his tone of voice seemed a little patronising, as if he were talking to children, and when Hughes talked of his childhood, I couldn’t help feeling that pitched another way this tale would be good for children, especially as Hughes took on the guise of other characters in his story, made the sound effects and even added in some humorous bits of physical theatre. What I wasn’t expecting, was what followed this childhood story, which was the tale of him and his friend (the same one who pooed his pants), now grown up, and climbing up Snowdonia, a suggestion made by Hughes who needed to clear his head and ‘change his perspective’. Aside from the necessary comic moments on the way, the tale which ensued was also one which was touching and poignant, even with references to existentialism and this was mostly effectively woven in to the humour, even if it did mean that the audience were slightly uncomfortable not knowing whether to laugh or to remain silent. Yet Hughes was pleasant and interactive enough to create empathy in his audience, and this was supported by the healthy round of applause at the end, despite the audience only taking up half of the stalls.

Only being in Oxford for the one night, I don’t have the task of convincing you to book tickets, or, indeed, otherwise. But if you happen to come across Hugh Hughes sometime in the future, you could do worse than sit through an hour and a half of this oddly pleasant show.