Chris Ryan as Andre DiVenuto in Andre Tonight! Photograph by Amanda Carr.
Unconventionally, Andre Tonight begins with its own ending. As we enter a TV talk show set, we’re informed by our host, Andre DiVenuto (alter-ego of performer Chris Ryan) that tonight’s show has been cancelled. The band have called in sick and the special guest is running late from the airport, so there will be no show. It’s clearly a set-up, but it’s pulled off through Andre’s pathetic, clownish charm. Just as it seems that all is lost, out of the audience stumbles a (very) drunken young woman who can, through the fog of alcohol, miraculously follow the show’s sheet music well enough to replace the show’s regular band. And so, decides Andre, the show must go on.
What follows is a bit over an hour of some of the cleverest comedy I’ve seen in a long time. With brilliant performances by both Chris Ryan and his drunken off-sider ‘Meg’, the show’s timing and structure are tight from start to finish. Both Andre and Meg are awful. Meg throws back more alcohol and ‘medicine’ than you’d need to tranquilize a horse, all whilst dodging calls from a clearly awful ex-boyfriend. And Andre – where do I start? Mysogynistic, self-centred, grovelling, and painfully un-self-aware. And yet, we love both of these awful people. We stay with them through the highs of their hope, the lows of their despair, right through to a genius surprise ending.
I do have some questions about the character of Andre DiVenuto. He’s a second-generation Italian boy from working-class beginnings in Epping, and there’s something undeniably classist in the perpetuation and ridicule of such a figure. I can’t comment on the background of the team or the proximity in their personal lives to the context from which Andre is sprung. I was able to digest these discomforts through the huge amount of empathy and pathos granted to Andre’s character throughout the evening, but would still like to understand further where the drive to create such a character comes from – especially for a team that are clearly so clever and thoughtful in the rest of the structure of their work.
But I don’t want to drag this review down by getting offended on other people’s behalf. For my own part, I had an excellent time with this show, from start to finish. There’s a lot of good stuff in here I can’t tell you about, but like any good talk-show, it’s chock-full of laughs, unexpected tricks, and a little bit of profundity into the bargain. Check Andre out at the Fringe before he’s as big as Rove*.
*who now hosts a post-drive-time radio show with the star of Channel Ten’s The Bachelorette???
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Created by Chris Ryan and Mark Winter
Performed by Chris Ryan and Special Guest
Music by Special Guest
Directed by Mark Winter
Designed by Govin Ruben
Choreographed by Alice Topp
Produced by Natasha Phillips
With deep gratitude to Sam Neill
With thanks to: Tommy Allen, Hugo Weaving, Steve Toulmin, Amanda Carr, Nick Simpson-Deeks, Devan Ruben, Arts House, Andrew Bailey, Andrew Bellchambers, Leigh Fisher, Jacob Beydler, David Ellis, Peter Curry, Esther Hanford, Malthouse Theatre, MTC, Jurja Celikiene, Paul and Lorraine Ryan, William Henderson at Eleventh Hour, Helen Marcou at Bakehouse Studio
Fringe Hub – Rehearsal Room Arts House North Melbourne Town Hall
16-30 September 2016
