Coco The Time-Travelling Tart cabaret review: Game for anything
From slave boys to nosh-offs, the chaotic drag act is an entertaining, totally filthy companion
Coco The Time-Travelling Tart is so skyscraping of stature that in heels and blonde up-do, she barely squeezes under the roof of her compact Fringe venue. Like some crazed, sex-daft stick insect, Coco’s upper-class vowels can’t hide the fact she is no lady. The show’s concept (perhaps too strong a word) sees our loose-moralled heroine hurtling back through time by means of a magic taxi, in search of a precious piece of lost jewellery. We’re transported from ‘Edinblah’ in 2026 through multiple historic events and periods, among them ancient Greece and the French royal court.
The whole affair has a flung-together panto charm, with entertainingly crappy props and a very game volunteer co-opted to be Coco’s slave boy (take a bow, Tom). A willing audience throw themselves into the chaos, playing everything from Sir Walter Raleigh to dance-crazed Titanic survivors. Not even a broken heel can stop Coco (the drag alter ego of Max Norman) who is up for just about anything, whether crawling on hands and knees through the crowd or noshing off everyone from Napoleon to Kneecap. It’s a pity then that, for some reason, she’s not mic’d up. Though audible in an admittedly small room, the sound is muffled, creating a needless barrier between spectator and performer.
Coco The Time-Travelling Tart, Underbelly George Square, until 30 August, 9.45pm; picture: Jennifer Forward-Hayter.