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	Paradise in The Vault (venue website) Theatre 4-5 Aug, 8:45pm-9:35pm; 6, 10, 12, 15-19, 22, 25 Aug, 5:00pm-5:50pm; 7-9, 11, 14, 21, 23-24, 26-27 Aug, 5:00pm-5:30pm Reviewed by Brianne Moore
Parents or guardians should consider the content of this show if children are attending.

Hero worship: it never really works out, does it? It certainly doesn't for the titular character in Rémy, whose adoration of Napoleon takes him far from home, to the brutal battlefields of Europe and, eventually, to an English insane asylum/prison, where we join him.

Rémy treats the audience as friends who've come to visit, affably inviting us to sit anywhere as the play opens. What follows is a dizzying account of his life, as he leaps from subject to subject, taking us on an emotional rollercoaster ride. It would be exhausting if Rémy weren't so sweet and likeable, and able to mix humour into even dire situations.

A lot of that humour comes from little asides. Claire Gaydon, the actress playing Rémy, is also the writer, and you get the impression she's ad-libbing a lot, skilfully playing off the audience's reactions, which helps us feel even more a part of the action. The playful use of simple props – a blanket, straw, pillow, bench, and plant – also add to both the humour and the story, as they're transformed into a guillotine, a fellow soldier, or a chicken about to be eaten.

Despite the plentiful chuckles, this is a dark tale; one that even Rémy can hardly stand to tell at times. His hyper-active leaps from one subject to another – one minute he's describing the horrors of Napoleon's Spanish campaign, the next he's talking about his sister's wedding – appear to be a coping mechanism. Whenever his history gets too terrible, he retreats to memories of home, or of Rosa, the Englishwoman he loves. But Rémy's story is undeniably a sad one, and one that's all too common: like many young men who get caught up in patriotic fervour, he followed his hero into hell and did not come out the better for it.

It's a lot to pack into just 30 minutes, but Gaydon manages, creating a character that's sweet, childlike, and poignant. It's hard to imagine Rémy on the battlefield, rallying fellow soldiers; but you can imagine him being someone who's actually in your life, perhaps a silly friend or a loving sibling. And that makes his story all the more interesting and saddening.