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Yes, We Have No Bananas!

nytheatre.com review by Kelly McAllister
August 15, 2005

Yes, We Have No Bananas! is everything a Fringe show should be—adventurous, silly, and experimental. It’s refreshingly original and fun. I don’t mean fun like a few smiles here and there fun, I mean fun like you remember how joyous theatre can and should be. It’s hard to pigeonhole this show, which is written, directed, choreographed, and performed by Charlotte Schieler (assisted by Marianne Ilum Sorensen and David Tritiakoff Ghoron), into any one category—which I always think is a good sign—but I guess you could call it an experimental drama/dance piece with elements of absurdism, performance art, and Dadaism.But none of those words give the right amount of credence to this smart, funny show. The plot, which I quote here from the press release, goes like this: “A woman dances to Nordic songs, gets hungry, eats her skirt and gets into a fight with her piano. She cries out for help, but all she gets is whipped cream, and too much of it, so…she takes a bath in a tub on wheels, changes skin color, and develops an enormous brain with which she gets stuck in a doorway. Decides this is too much, and that she just wants to be a housewife in Alabama.” And that’s not all of it, but you get the idea.This is an absurd tale about our modern world, told through dance, song, a vaudevillian type of stand-up comedy, and pure inspiration. There’s also audience interaction—which I recommend. On the day I saw the show, both of my companions and myself enjoyed bananas covered in whipped cream given to us by Schieler.Schieler is a force of life on stage. She captures the attention and imagination of the audience immediately, and keeps them for the entire hour of the show. She is backed up by two silent dancers, Johanne Chasle and Mimi Seear, who act at times as comic relief, scenery movers, commentators, and more. Both Chasle and Seear are excellent in their roles. The entire show is underscored by percussionist Renato Tonini, whose music is the perfect complement to the show. So, if you’re looking for a smart, brief (just under an hour) show that pushes boundaries, Yes, We Have No Bananas! is for you.