Charles Ross has performed his show One-Man Star Wars Trilogy and touring the globe for the last 11 years. He mostly did Fringe Festivals, (I saw his One-Man Lord of the Rings back in 2013 in the Edmonton Fringe) but has performed to a wide variety of non-fringe audiences across the world.
This performance is dense in detail and is aimed mostly at an audience who knows the films inside and out. Having seen the trilogy a couple times, there were definitely times I was a bit lost in the action, not getting all the jokes, or knowing exactly what scene Ross was performing. But that didn’t matter too much because Ross has great voice work (especially his Jabba the Hut and R2D2), immense energy and knows the films like the back of his hand. Because of this, the not so die-hard fans of Star Wars are entertained and the die-hards understand every wink and every joke.
On opening night, Ross was still trying to work out the levels on his microphone but that didn’t interfere with his performance. I felt that his microphone level was too high at times. Mike Schaldemose has created a lighting design to allow for subtle scene changes on stage, making use of a mirror ball that symbolizes physical explosions at times. Ross takes us through each film, putting his spin on different scenes and creating some improvisational humour.
You’ll leave the theatre humming the Star Wars theme, whether you want to or not.
Pumphouse Theatre’s production of One-Man Star Wars Trilogy along with One-Man Lord of the Rings run at the Pumphouse Theatre until October 29th. More information is available online.