Pleasance Dome
Theatre
1-12, 14-26 Aug, 5:20pm-6:20pm 

If you’re one of the Bane series’ many devotees, don’t get too excited: this isn’t a new instalment, just another chance to enjoy the three original shows.  On the other hand, if you’re new to Joe Bone’s one-man film-noir parody, you’ve a real treat in store.  The witty, gripping plays have earned multiple five-star reviews over the last few years, and Bane 3 won one of our Editors’ Choice awards for its darkly ironic finale.  So if you've never seen Bone’s cult performance, it’s surely time to find out what you've been missing… and if you missed one or two parts of the trilogy, well, now’s the moment to put that omission right.

Built round a gangland hit-man “who gets the job done”, Bane is a nothing short of a performing tour-de-force.  It’s delivered by one man, alone on a bare stage – yet he fills it with an array of diverse characters, all executed with perfect comic timing and a finely-varied range of voices.  He mimes out all the props as well, and even provides the sound effects; the sheer physical stamina is hugely impressive, but the skill which underpins it is more striking still.  And the script, also Bone’s own work, is a masterpiece of parody, with the later instalments cheerfully lampooning the episodes that have gone before.

Joe Bone isn’t quite the only man on the stage; guitarist Ben Roe is a big part of it too, with his atmospheric strumming proving the perfect counterpoint to Bone’s breakneck madness.  If you’re new to the show, we suggest you do the obvious thing and start with Bane 1, which is showing on Fridays.  Bane 2 plays on Saturdays, while the hilariously self-referential Bane 3 fills the rest of the week.  You can pick up the story at any point, but beware – once you’ve seen a single part, you may well find yourself drawn back for them all.