Review: The Full English (Pier Street Playhouse, Ventnor Fringe)

Melanie Branton is a former English lecturer and self-confessed linguistics nerd and she has created the show The Full English to share her love of the English language with audiences. It was a pleasure go along and review the show at Pier Street Playhouse, one of the venues at Ventnor Fringe.

At the start of her performance, Melanie told us, alongside words, she also loves audience participation. This is a phrase that always makes this introvert’s heart sink and yet for the first time in my life I found myself enthusiastically participating in this joyful celebration of all things wordy, even being the first to do so. This is due to the way we were all made to feel a part of the experience, rather than just observers, right from the start.

Partly performance poetry, partly theatre and engaging throughout, The Full English discusses the development of the English Language, which involves some historical facts, many of which were new to me and consistently fascinating, especially as they clarified how language develops over time in ways that are often not what you’d expect.

Touching on family histories, different types of employment, human rights issues and the perils of the dreaded Vikings, with the addition of songs, humour, various hats and gentle interaction with the audience, this was a fascinating hour which kept everyone engaged and challenged our perceptions of where language has come from. The enthusiasm for words enveloped every audience member, and it felt like a joyful shared experience rather than just watching a show.

What stood out was the balance of comedy with darker subjects such as colonialism and slavery, and the contrast between old English and the changes through time until the present day. One particular segment containing only recent words really made you think about how language is constantly evolving. Despite taking on plenty of insightful information it never felt like we were being lectured, as the performance was delivered in such an engaging way, and held the interest throughout.

Melanie’s knowledge, intelligence and ability to craft with words, as well as to perform in such an engaging way, is what makes The Full English the type of experience that you think about long after you’ve left the theatre. Indeed, it made me want to read more about some of the topics that were discussed during the production.

This show would be of interest to life-long word nerds as well as people who like to see a performance of something rather unique. In fact it is packaged in a way that could appeal to everyone. I couldn’t help but think it would engage the interest of even the most unenthusiastic English student, and maybe has potential to be taken into schools as a result.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Full English will be performed at Ventnor Fringe again on 19 July at 6.30pm.

If you would like to see my curtain call photographs from this and other shows, please visit my Instagram.

I was gifted a ticket for this show in exchange for an honest review.