CAMPITALISM: Three Gays Try to Fix The Economy is a show by Boy Theatre, Pleasance associate artists and receivers of funding from the Pleasance and Leicester Curve.
The three performers are dressed in suits and caps from the waist up, and boxers and trainers from the waist down, which lends things a Just William-esque feeling of boyish anarchy from the start. They each introduce themselves as ‘Brian,’ all with technically different finance jobs, but all working from the same toxic finance bro playbook, and sharing a love of innuendo and pop-culture references (letting out a sombre ‘enjoy those marmalade sandwiches ma’am,’ when the late Queen is mentioned) which they direct boisterously at the audience.
As part of fixing the economy, they first educate us on what money is, with the help of a screen at the side of the stage. We walk the line between genuine financial education – once again the lack of repercussions for the 2008 financial crisis is mind-boggling – and bro-culture fused with camp insanity, with a great sequence set to ‘Money, Money, Money’ by ABBA. There is the somewhat inevitable Brian grieving a wife who left him, but another who mitigates his toxicity with the refrain ‘don’t worry liberals, I’m a girl dad.’
There are also moments of genuine emotion, as the performers break character to discuss their real-life relationships with money and the futility of feeling that the system is stacked against them. The writing really shines here, and the performers hold the sincerity as well as they do the humour in the rest of the show. Their presence and commitment to their Brian characters really wins over the audience; it’s anarchic, chaotic fun from a group asking the right questions.
CAMP: Three Gays Try to Fix The Economy is on at Attic at Pleasance Courtyard until the 31st August