Homunculus is a weird and wonderful show. It’s excellent, but it’s not for everyone. Cloistered in her art-strewn garret during a thunderstorm, sculptress and sexy sorceress Mimi has fought with her philandering paramour for the last time. After he stomps off, she and her lickspittle henchman, er, assistant, Bootbutt seek their revenge by bringing to life a homunculus of the ex-lover. It all wraps up in a manner more usually seen in a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta. Like everything else about the show, it’s strange, but it works.
Your feelings towards the 2023 film Poor Things are probably the best litmus test for whether you’re the right audience for Homunculus, as this inhabits the same camp comedy-horror space, perched precariously between the ridiculous and sublime. Like that film, the show stays on the right side of the line, but it’s undeniably a little bit niche. (And if you aren’t familiar with Poor Things, mashing together Young Frankenstein with The Rocky Horror Picture Show might suffice as a good comparator.)
The original contribution to the genre here, and it’s a major one, is the language of the script by Santiago Mallan. It slides about languorously and confidently in verse, slipping from the Shakespearean to modern slang. There are long passages that are wondrously beautiful. The ideas about art within those words aren’t always crystal clear, but the language is always dazzling, art in itself.
It’s really terrific, and all the more exhilarating for how unlikely its success would seem from the description. One pedantic note: the homunculus at the centre of the story is, more aptly, a golem. But I concede that this would disallow the rhyme with “monkey puss”, and that this alone is reason to go with the technically incorrect nomenclature.
The acting from the ensemble of six is uniformly competent and effective. Jane Paul, seemingly channelling a young Helena Bonham Carter, is particularly good at making her sex-kitten rendition of Mimi purr with terrifying genius and madness in equal measure, though this could also be accomplished with a little less shrieking. Poppy Reeve is mesmerising as Nova, the literary other woman, employing the kind of sumptuous delivery that sends one scurrying off to Google whether she also narrates audiobooks (sadly, no. Or perhaps not yet?).
Beautifully colourful and appropriate set and costume design by Tom Mallan and Mary Wiklander Williams (with folk art contributed by the cast) are a nice touch that helps establish the mood.
Homunculus is boldly original. Amid the many hundreds of Fringe shows that try to be edgy and end up doing it all in the same cookie-cutter way, Homunculus dances to its own tune. Its ambitions are lofty and not always met, but the extent to which it achieves them is impressive.
Listings and ticket information can be found here
