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| Melting in Madras Reviews | |
What a show. H.R. Britton is a great storyteller ... Between the music, his impersonations of teachers, the verbal details of the adventure, and the tastes and smells of India, he pulled us in with each detail. He was standing in front of the audience, but really he had gotten into our heads. Britton engages us with his journey ... and paints the picture so well that you feel as though you are there with him. Carrying his guitar on his back throughout the entire show, Britton complements his monologues with enchanting minor strums … adding to the relaxing, zen environment that he creates with tales of his experiences practicing yoga, taking music lessons, exploring Southern India and eventually falling ill... His portrayal of the multitude of characters he encounters while in India is spot on ... Britton’s eyes and facial expressions are a huge draw for his mix of serious and humorous stories... Melting in Madras is a lovely piece of work ... it will move you to tears, to laughter and to wishing you could leave on the next plane out. I loved this show...it came out of left field to take me on an incredible journey. I felt like I was right there with H.R. Britton as he portrayed his spiritual journey to India, was turned literally inside out, and emerged... His characterizations were subtle and wonderful, and his descriptions vivid and intense. I could smell the spices in the market, hear the sounds of the streets ... I could feel the wind in his hair and the wind in his soul as he travelled... It was a simple show with no bells and whistles, save what he provided with his own voice and guitar accompaniment, but this bare-foot performer took me on a most profound ride. "Melting in Madras" is an absolutely beautiful solo show with great attention to detail, a driving pace, a basketful of memorable characters (all created without props, costumes or any trappings except H.R.'s formidable natural cleverness, facility with accents and sense of humor), and a gentle thematic mix of irony and compassion -- a young man engaging in every form of physical purification gets horribly sick … That dry analysis, though, doesn't remotely capture how phenomenally engaging "Melting" is. It's worth going for the music alone! With only his shoe-less feet and a guitar as backup, H.R. Britton manages to wrap your mind in khadi and draw you into his tale of travel and illness without hope of snapping out until the end. While the story doesn't change locations geographically, he still portrays the colors of India and the scattered, panicked mind-set of a Westerner trying to unravel the culture of India perfectly. Having spent almost 10 months traveling in India, his show made me miss it intensely ... If you have done any traveling in the east, this show is a must see. If you have any inkling of traveling in the east, this show is also a must see. A Whirlwind Ride! H.R. Britton's fast-paced storytelling and gorgeous guitar work whips you along for the ride in this tale of his travels and resulting sickness. Britton is a wonderful performer; masterful in that he paints the scene for you not only through his words, but also through his accompanying guitar strumming, which really made the story for me. Because of the combination of music with his words, I felt like I was riding along on the little rickshaw or on his bike with the "aaaOOOga" horn, through ... the marketplace. And his impressions of the people he met along the way immersed me further into the experience. This was a lovely show...the story was intriguing, and H.R.'s energy was incredibly infectious.
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