29th July 2022

Bristol Uni pals, Kate Stokes and Claudia Summers are Edinburgh bound with their latest show, Careering, which previewed at the unique Bristol Improv Theatre last night. Despite the venue name this is a scripted show that gives full rein to the talents of these two who I think are best described as comic actors. As a female comedy duo comparisons have been made with you-know-who and with some justification. They attack each sketch with the same earnest gusto that underlines the easy, complementary relationship that shines through the often broad-stroke comedy.

The clever device that links the series of sketches is to take us inside the office block that is Hades House. Here, amongst others, a wannabe dog walker finds herself promoted to a wellbeing coach, an actress finds herself temping with someone whose dreams of becoming a radio traffic announcer she  teasingly exposes,  someone else is given a totally inappropriate job interview based on star signs, whilst in another room the perils of ‘hot-desking’ are gleefully aired.

The show is sprinkled with some crazy dancing and a few songs: Sade’s Smooth Operator, for example, becomes the song of a Lift Operator. The onstage action is intercut with filmed links which left me in no doubt that TV will soon be beckoning. It was in the filmed sequences that we saw more of the nuanced characterizations that Ms’s Stokes and Summers are capable of. They did have a tendency on occasion to go for off-the-shelf stereotypes, which their obvious talents show they can easily do without. But hey, they’re on their way and there’s little that can stop this talented duo getting to the very top.

Graham Wyles 30th July 2022

Photo credit:  Beth Clarence