Made in Cumbria
Jane Postlethwaite
Downstairs at Nowhere Man is a perfect little venue for this intimate performance of Made in Cumbria by local funny girl Jane Postlethwaite. Her eclectic mix of characters gave us a peak into a twisted parallel Cumbrian universe where the premise of a coach trip acts as the entry point into this macabre world of missing tourists and northern intrigue.
Jane Postlethwaite is a Funny Women Finalist 2015 and Brighton Comedy Festival Squawker Award Finalist 2015. The inventive characters started with a coach tour guide whose enthusiastic and engaging manner instantly put the passengers at ease, handing out bastardised name tags to authenticate and engage the audience.
Full details of the show here
The soundtrack drove the narrative well with a roving reporter and local radio station providing a link between characters and adding to the intrigue of the mystery coach disappearance 10 years ago and building to a traumatic climax. Highlights included survival specialist Karroll Karabiner Kavannagh pointing out that just because someone buys you a survival experience doesn’t mean they love you.
Kirsty Bird with her infectious giggle and sad falconry tale delighted me along with the morbid children’s author and illustrator Joy Hope taking us through her childhood autopsy experience, grim but wonderful. Almost all of Postlethwaite characters are believable although the first Northern female astronaut Stella Nova failed to connect.
Follow Jane or check out the rest of her work or upcoming gigs on her rather modern website here
Overall Made in Cumbria was a hugely enjoyable and quirky show that highlights the inventiveness of Jane Postlethwaite and allows her crepuscular comical Northern charm to shine though and throw some serious shadows in a suitably cosy setting.
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