Dinosaur Park came off as more of a drama production than a comedy act. While overall it was fairly enjoyable, the winning factors for the performance came not from the jokes but from the clever acting and the use of minimalist stage props to help tell the story. The actors performed well, the story was involving, but ultimately it all seemed very foreign and detracted from the realm of a conventional comedy show. There were few laughs to be had – yet the entire performance was still very gripping.
The story was told in an absurdist manner – half of it was referencing Jurassic Park whilst the other half told the story of a single father and his children post-divorce. Both sides of the story were told well but strangely interwoven – whenever the story slipped into referencing Jurassic Park, the actors cut into an odd interpretive dance followed by a re-enactment of the movie.
The execution of this was relatively clever, but there was a lack of humorous consistency in the overall performance – certain parts were funny, but other parts seemed more focused towards setting the scene rather than delivering conventional comedy. In a perfect world with some clever writing, both would be achievable. Yet overall, while this made for a great drama performance, on the other side of the coin it made for a rather dry comedic performance. It would be forgivable if you walked out of Dinosaur Park more interested in the story than you were the jokes employed.
That said, they were fairly clever in their delivery. The humour was on point – their method of eccentric acting complemented the re-enacted scenes from Jurassic Park very well and kept the audience linked to the film. Their usage of minimalist props was also exceptional – using nothing more than a backpack and a sketchpad with a rather large eye drawn on it, they managed to successfully re-enact the Tyrannosaurus Rex scenes from the original movie to great effect by lugging one of the actors on the shoulders of the other and using pre-recorded sounds to make a booming roar.
Overall, Dinosaur Park did well to mix both a divorce story with a classic film, but the emphasis on acting and the lack of jokes made it feel far more suited to a Fringe Festival rather than MICF. It’s worth the watch if you’re aligned towards drama performances, just don’t expect your sides to split in the process.
BY THOMAS BRAND
