One Man Dark Knight: A Batman Parody
Kelly Stifora | CBC News | Posted: July 14, 2016 2:23 PM | Last Updated: July 15, 2016
THREE STARS | This parody is as much fun as watching Adam West do the Batusi
Rating: ★★★
Company: Chicken for Supper Productions, Victoria
Genre: Play — Comedy
Venue: 1 — John Hirsch Theatre
When you think about it, Charles Ross and Batman aren't that different. Both don strange outfits to pursue endurance-testing solo crusades, both will inspire imitators good and bad, and both can be difficult to understand when they're talking.
Batman's job may be easier — he just has to beat up criminals with high-tech gadgets. Ross has to cram seven hours worth of laborious plotting into one, do two dozen impressions (Gary Oldman is dead on; Michael Caine sounds like Obi Wan Kenobi; Batman, well, see above), and deal with unresponsive opening night audiences.
Bottom line: this parody is as much fun as watching Adam West do the Batusi. However, also like the modern grim and gritty Batman (and unlike last year's great One Man Star Wars Trilogy), I get the sense that Ross is doing it less because he wants to, and more because he feels he has to.