NotMoses, theatre review: Meandering exhibition of toothless humour

How does Moses make his coffee? Hebrews it. Unless I missed something, this joke doesn't appear in Gary Sinyor's debut play but it wouldn't be out of place in a show that tries to extract humour from the similarity of the words "sphinx" and "sphincter".

Previously known for his films, notably Nineties cult hit Leon the Pig Farmer, Sinyor has written a comedy inspired by the biblical story of the Exodus. Its central figure is NotMoses (Greg Barnett), who as a child is found in a basket but dumped back in the Nile when he annoys Jasmine Hyde's haughty Princess. He grows up to be a slave, and eventually finds himself in the wilderness alongside the actual Moses (Thomas Nelstrop).

Apparently Sinyor's play, which he also directs, is meant to be the Jewish community's answer to Monty Python's Life of Brian. The implication is that it's provocative, satirical and replete with killer lines. But after a promising first few minutes it degenerates into a meandering exhibition of toothless humour.

There’s a laboured running joke about NotMoses’s name, along with quips about circumcision, constipation and ISIS. Moses’s famous Burning Bush becomes a convenient spot for cooking kebabs, and it emerges that Moses is lactose intolerant, so he has little desire to lead his people to the land of milk and honey. Ho ho.

Sinyor delights in willfully terrible puns. An extended one involves Islam and a tasty dish of meat ("is lamb"). Maybe it's unreasonably pedantic to point out that the Old Testament was written many centuries before the birth of Mohammed, so Moses wouldn't have encountered any Muslims. But what's for sure is that a handful of vigorous performances can't stop NotMoses feeling like a wildly overextended five-minute comedy stretch.

Until May 14, Arts Theatre (02078368463, artstheatrewestend.co.uk)

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