Marcel Cole and his mum Katie created plenty of buzz at FRINGE WORLD 2024 with their hit show The Ukulele Man, a musical biography about early 20th century English entertainer George Formby. I only caught a snippet of it in the FANTASIA hub showcase, and was truly disappointed not to be able to see the whole thing.
The Coles made a triumphant return this year, not with an encore of The Ukulele Man, but with two separate solo shows. Marcel has brought another 20th century entertainment legend back to life with Smile: The Story of Charlie Chaplin, a biographical physical theatre comedy that is poignant, timely, and endearingly funny.
Tucked away in Le Roi, a wood-panelled back parlour at the old-for-Perth Belgian Beer Cafe, Smile sat nicely in its temporary home, in spite of the challenges of blocking out daylight and car noise from the street just outside. The antique pub decor enhanced the show’s nostalgic elements and helped us enter Cole-as-Chaplin’s world.
Cole’s international artistic training is impressive; he is a true multidisciplinary performer in every sense, and I bet he probably knows how to do a lot more than he lets on. His charismatic presence subtly and quietly unfurls before you even realise what’s happened; you simply find yourself munching on the oats in his outstretched hand before he’s even spent 2 minutes on stage.
Cole leans heavily into clowning, mime, physical theatre, and even interpretive dance rather than spoken word to portray Chaplin for a large portion of the piece, which makes sense and allows for some glorious comedic give-and-take with the audience. Cole orchestrates significant audience participation by communicating in gestures, expressive looks, and whispered stage directions into participants’ ears. By and large, each volunteer performer picked up their cues beautifully and enthusiastically, emboldened by Cole’s calm, careful, and generous conducting.
Perhaps the most surprisingly left-field moment of the piece was Cole’s interpretive dance interlude which addressed Chaplin’s history during the rise of Hitler and the Nazi regime. While I wouldn’t classify this portion of Cole’s storytelling as overtly political, perhaps the recent terrifying updates out of America might make you think otherwise.
The finale of Smile is simply sublime, leaving you with a warm fondness for Chaplin, Cole, and the art of entertaining. I can’t wait to see what (or who) Cole brings to life next.
CICELY BINFORD
Smile: The Story of Charlie Chaplin by Marcel Cole was presented from 18 Jan – 9 Feb 2025 throughout various locations and venues for FRINGE WORLD.
