Review: SOFT 'N' HARD at The Loft Q Theatre, Auckland

I don't think I've ever felt as uplifted on a wet wintry Tuesday evening as I was at the opening night of Barbarian Productions'
'Soft 'n' Hard' at Q Theatre last night.

One hour of thoroughly full on and totally enthralling, entertainment lifted my spirits and made great 'drive home' conversation that continued into thoughts in the night.

Marvellous.

Real life husband and wife duo Jo Randerson and Thomas LaHood present a non-stop hour of comic theatre, delving deeply into the difficulties of gender constructs with a high-impact, visually arresting opening sequence, followed by a relentless and largely non-verbal clown performance of traditional domestic, cinematic (and toxic) gender tropes, and finally dissolves completely into a fast-paced, meta-theatrical dialogue between the performers that gets into the nitty-gritty of modern ideas like mansplaining and emotional labour.

The show is a relatable, challenging and riotously funny exploration of the tensions and imbalances between male and female gender roles in our modern world.

This raw and wild approach is ingenious and refreshingly original.

Physical Theatre performed well is one of my favourite genres and this was deliciously delivered!

The melding of costume with movement with clowning, dance and music was superb.

If you're a lover of the expression of social issues within original theatre mediums then go see it and bring some money to purchase the very original and funny merchandise after the show!

SOFT N HARD

Tuesday 20 - Saturday 24 August, 7.30pm
Loft at Q Theatre, 305 Queen Street, Auckland
Tickets: $22 - $29 (booking fees may apply)
Bookings: www.qtheatre.co.nz / 09 309 9771

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