Review by Steve Bennett

Louise Reay’s concept appears strikingly original: To perform a full stand-up show in Chinese, to an audience that doesn’t speak it. It’s billed as an exercise in the 93 per cent of communication that’s said to be non-verbal.

And when she starts nattering away incomprehensibly, you wonder how she can possibly pull it off. Sure, as she romps though cultural touchstones from Romeo & Juliet to Rocky, she gets laughs from the occasional English reference point, incongruous among the seemingly nonsensical chitter. It calls to mind the Fast Show’s ‘Ethethethethetheth, ethehethethetheth, ethethetheth, Chris Waddle’ skits. But that would be a thin joke for an hour.

However it soon emerges that this is not 60 minutes of stand-up in this vein, but a show based on getting the audience up on stage to act out scenes with her; which is when it all clicks. This is what The Boy With Tape On His Face and his ilk do with no language at all. That she’s talking in what, to us, seems like a nonsensical babble is largely irrelevant.

Still,it got her some sponsorship from the Confucius Institute that promotes Chinese culture, so fair play….

The scenarios she and her ‘volunteers’ act out are a mixed bag, generally amusing without showing the brilliant inventive flair of TapeFace. In the best, she swaddles a man to become a baby, encouraging him to take milk; while another reenacting a Mitchell family row from EastEnders (FarEastEnders?) amuses. However other skits seem a little more straightforward.

Reay is an expressive clown, having been trained by the likes of Phil Burgers (aka Doctor Brown), and Eric Davis (Red Bastard), and can get laughs from glances and gestures alone, lending credence to her theory that you don’t need words to communicate.

Her mentors are not shy about putting people on stage, and neither is Reay, making the show heavily dependent on their actions. One scene here fell flat as the poor chap couldn’t understand what was expected of him at all… possibly to give communion to Reay’s nun. She got laughs from the struggle to communicate, which is a big part of the fun, but it felt like we were missing the best bit.

Still, it’s an interesting angle, and even if It’s Only Words doesn’t entirely pay off, it was worth a shot. As they say in Shanghai: Dú wàn juǎn shū bùrú xíng wànlǐ lù. There is nothing like trying.

Review date: 15 Aug 2015
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Just the Tonic at The Grassmarket Centre