Part piano recital, part humorous examination of an instrument, part lecture; Anatomy of a Piano was an odd mish-mash and turned out to be neither one thing nor the other.
Will Pickvance is a likeable chap and a good pianist but he couldn’t sing and his attempts at comedy were pretty weak. The songs were puerile rather than being silly and fun and the fantasy lecture using fabricated words and made-up facts was a complex and nutty affair.
The performance was a weird love letter to the piano, merged with observations from Pickvance’s time as a travelling musician but it was self-indulgent and too personal to appeal to many other people.
The interesting concept, of describing the piano as a living thing and dissecting its different parts, was stretched too thin for a one hour show and some good ideas were not developed enough to make sense to a wider audience. Ultimately it was all a bit bonkers, baffling and boring.
The show also ran in a morning slot for families and may have appealed more to children or young pianists but it failed to hit the right notes for an adult audience on a Saturday night.
Two stars
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