archy and mehitabel Reviews

The Coast, Halifax

Back in 1916, a New York newspaper columnist named Don Marquis introduced Archy the cockroach and Mehitabel the free-spirited cat to the world. Archy, who claimed to be a reincarnated poet and thus was qualified to comment upon both the human and insect worlds, supposedly left free verse social commentary on Marquis' typewriter at night. Jeff Culbert does a remarkable job bringing these beautifully rendered words to the stage as he transforms himself into the lovable (yes, lovable) cockroach, the scrappy cat, a philosophical ant and even a tongue-tied worm who eventually finds himself celebrating his role as a robin's meal. This is what the Fringe is all about folks: tiny, perfect theatrical gems that will shine in your memory.

- Kate Watson

Halifax Chronicle Herald

Age-old wisdom from a cat and a cockroach

The unlikely friendship between a cockroach and a cat cooked up by Don Marquis for a newspaper column in the 1910s and '20s was adapted for the stage in the musical Shinbone Alley in the '50s, but London, Ont. actor Jeff Culbert gets back to the roots of Marquis' language and themes in his spry one-man version, Archy & Mehitabel.

Archy is a reincarnated poet, who relays warnings of mankind's demise from the insect world, while Mehitabel is a feline flapper who claims to have been Cleopatra in a previous life. Culbert plays Archy in a hunched, cartoonish way while strutting and preening as Mehitabel, easily embodying her "toujours gai" approach to life.

Whether scuttling like a bug or lashing out with a cat's claws, Culbert commands your attention while uttering Marquis' remarkably prescient words, suggesting insects would inherit the earth decades before the idea that cockroaches would be the only thing to survive a nuclear war or some other global catastrophe.

But Archy's dire predictions are balanced by Mehitabel's lesson of making the most of your existence, whether you live in a mansion or a garbage can. Between the two lies a valuable lesson for the ages.

By Stephen Cooke

Indianapolis Star

IndyFringe gives its patrons lots of room to laugh, with an occasional breather for serious reflection.

Sometimes the opportunities are combined, as they are captivatingly in Jeff Culbert's "Archy and Mehitabel" (Marian Underground), a vigorous tribute to the creatures of newspaperman Don Marquis' imagination.

As seen Tuesday, the show allows fans of Marquis' thinking cockroach Archy and worldly cat Mehitabel to see how they might thrive onstage. Culbert leaves no doubt about their fitness.

You don't even miss the typographic charm of these writings, in which every word is in lower case, as Archy is said to have composed his free-verse missives to Marquis at night, repeatedly jumping off the top of the typewriter onto one key at a time.

The heart of Marquis is the freedom his whimsy afforded him to look at the follies of mankind from the insect level. Archy's account of a meeting of cockroaches talking revolution, with Culbert representing different styles of bug rhetoric, may reflect the kind of political agitation more characteristic of the early 20th century than our own time. But the environmental worries Marquis put in Archy's shiny black head still resonate, as does our habit of waging wars we have no idea how to pay for.

With sound and light cues creating a nocturnal atmosphere appropriate for the city-dwelling cat and cockroach, Culbert adjusts his stance and gait while moving adroitly from voice to voice, bringing in minor characters (moths as doom-eager aesthetes, for example) just as vividly as his title characters.

- Jay Harvey

EDMONTON SUN

No scurrying Fringe reviewer wants to do research before watching a play between swallows of butter chicken. But rare indeed is the performance which actually motivates a hectic goober like me to spend joyful time digging around afterwards. Jeff Culbert's interpretation of a 1910s' journalist's poetry did just that in this eloquent, whirling solo show, really the best I've seen in a long, long time.

The titular Archy and Mehitabel come from the mind of Don Marquis of New York's 'The Evening Sun' (donmarquis.com). Begun in 1916, Marquis delivered stinging social commentary to “modern” life in the Tens and Twenties via his reincarnated animals, Archy being a once-poet, now cockroach, Mehitabel a mangy alley cat who – though she'll fight for her honour – somehow maintains the regal composure of her former lives. Her theoretical discussion of doing away with her own pesky kittens for their own good raised the hairs on my arms. “What in hell have I done to deserve all these damn kittens,” she asks hilariously, but ultimately decides to be as good a mother as she can be. Unless she happens to be on the other side of town during a storm, her babies in a rain barrel.

Their prose is lofty and riddled with references to the classics, but each is a fully developed personality, which Culbert delivers ravenously.

“What's the use being the universe if you have to be just?” Archy questions, but abandons his ideas to get along with oppressive man ultimately in favour of revolution. Considering the tumultuous times and America's fear of socialism, this would have been powerful stuff. It still is, which is what's so great – simultaneously reassuring and terrifying – that things haven't changed that much in the last 100 years. But at the last minute he pauses, considering the moth drawn to the flame, that giving it all up and burning up for that one moment of ecstasy. Archy mournfully wishes he wanted anything so bad.

This play is philosophically creamy. It's also delivered perfectly, as Culbert shifts from cockroach to cat, robin to the worm in his stomach – being assimilated into the singing robin, glad to be eaten. Although every catfight and ant rant is pregnant with symbolism and satire, the performances would be enjoyable enough in Swahili. Go see this show.

- Fish Griwkowsky

Five out of five.

See Magazine, Edmonton

Theories abound to explain why the works of some writers remain displayed in the literary canon while others must be dusted off. Jeff Culbert polled his full house to see how many of us were familiar with the writing of Don Marquis, from which he has “stitched together” this piece. Only about 25% raised their hands; I admit I was not among them. What I have since read about Marquis, a New York newspaper writer almost a century ago, convinces me further that this is a must-see show. Archy is a cockroach with the soul of a human poet. Mehitabel is an alley cat with a string of former lovers – in a past incarnation she was Cleopatra. Culbert's adoration for these characters is infectious, and his performance is joyous and lyrical.

These characters debuted during World War One, and yet descriptions of mankind destroying the earth invoke the tarsands. The text echoes T.S. Eliot, and yet he was publishing in the same era. Two historical truths stand out, though: the insects will inherit the earth, and cats will always get the last word.

Becky Halliday

Four and a half stars out of five.

Edmonton Journal

Archy, the tortured, meditative cockroach and Mehitabel, the smooth, regal cat, are two of the finest philosophers at the Fringe.

Jeff Culbert plays both of them, clicking and crouching as Archy and dancing jazzily as Mehitabel. Archy and Mehitabel are eloquent creatures, concerned with reminding us what it means be a human being.

The characters are based on the light poetry of the New York newspaper columnist Don Marquis, who published his work in papers and magazines in the first few decades of the 20th century. Culbert possesses himself beautifully with the soul and spirit of his creatures. They speak in a pleasing — and disappearing — jargon.

There is a lot to love about this show, based in language and movement more than narrative, but the principal pleasure is watching Culbert adore these characters, every word and every step.

Todd Babiak

Jenny Revue (Winnipeg)

archy and mehitabel

Jeff Culbert's jaw-droppingly wonderful, oneman show should be sold out through the end of its run, or there is no justice in the universe—and justice in the universe would greatly interest archy the cockroach, a revolutionary poet with a keen eye on humanity. Providing a calm and poignant foil to archy's impassioned ranting is sleek mehitabel the cat, a formidable lady full of hard-earned wisdom. Culbert moves with light and winsome grace between the two characters; his seemingly effortless physical artistry is a marvel to watch, and his vocal mastery of the material is absolute. His entire set and props consists of a chair and a pair of sunglasses; there is nothing on the nearly-bare stage to suggest another place, yet I left the theatre having had a most thought-provoking experience in a different world. This is one of the most delightful Fringe shows I have ever seen.

Leila Marston

CBC Manitoba

Mankind sucks. So says Archy the cockroach as he scuttles across the stage. Only he says it in more and bigger words. See, Archy was a free verse poet (the human kind) in a previous life.

His best friend is Mehitabel the resilient alley cat. She's been many things in previous lives, including, she says, Cleopatra.

Both are brought vividly and unforgettably to life by Jeff Culbert, who adapted his material from the "archy and mehitabel" series of newspaper articles written by Don Marquis beginning in 1916.  Culbert is amazing, with a physical vocabulary that's rivaled only by his verbal one.  His is easily among the strongest performances at the Fringe. And judging by Thursday's packed house, there are plenty of people still wanting to see the show after last year's successful run.

The play itself is a dense stew, a heady philosophical examination of humanity and its place in the cosmos. But if you've got a hearty appetite, there's lots here to chew on, and many tasty morsels.

Reviewed by Dean Jenkinson

Uptown Magazine, Winnipeg

A

Don Marquis isn't as well-known as he should be, and Jeff Culbert is determined to change that in this one-man, multi-animal show. Marquis wrote poems about a highly-strung cockroach (archy) and an aristocratic cat (mehitabel) on hard times. While archy frets about insects taking over the world, mehitabel expounds her guide to the bohemian life, full of spirit and self-determination. Culbert beautifully embodies various four-, six-, and eight-legged creatures. It's probably your only chance this fringe to see a talking ant. And really, if you don't know Marquis, you should and this is a splendid introduction. Kids will like it too. Pure delight.
— Quentin Mills-Fenn

Winnipeg Free Press

Archy and Mehitabel returns for the second straight festival and should be welcomed back. Based on the writing of American newspaper columnist Don Marquis, it's the tale of Archy, a curmudgeonly cockroach who emerges from the dark to speak for the lowest of the low, while Mehitabel, a sultry feline, claims to have been Cleopatra in another life.

Both offer an alternative view of the world from different links on the food chain. The rebellious Archy chides humans for their disorder (ant hills are better organized) and warns of joining the insect world in the overthrow of man. The carefree, bohemian Mehitabel is also no stranger to hard times but dismisses the bumps and lives by her motto: "toujours gai."

London, Ont., performer Jeff Culbert performs the complementary monologues and impersonations with wonderful clarity and style that warrant a second viewing.

Winnipeg Free Press

Cockroach Archy literally has the soul of a reincarnated poet, and sultry stray cat Mehitabel counts a turn as Cleopatra among her nine lives in this engrossing collection of interwoven musings based on jazz-age writer Don Marquis' poems and comic strips.

Agile London, Ont., actor Jeff Culbert fully inhabits both characters, along with a handful of other eloquent creatures who share wise snippets of philosophy about their place on the food chain.

As Archy, Culbert fights a natural inclination to skitter out of the spotlight, choosing to stand up on his six legs as an unlikely defender of an unworthy mankind. As lush-like Mehitabel, he performs a lithe dance, embodying a hep cat who repeatedly falls on hard times, but somehow always lands on her feet.

Mehitabel constantly reminds Archy that she's refined, a lady, an aristocrat. Clearly, she protests too much. And she reveals herself in poignant tales of toms and litters and ultra-violent catfights that are anything but refined. Still, this lady is a champ. Like fellow survivor Archy, she has an unbreakable spirit, one that lingers after the lights go down.

— Pat St. Germain, Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Sun ½

Bugs would have much to tell us about life, death, beauty, love, and hate, if only we would listen. London, Ont.'s Jeff Culbert plays archy, a nervous cockroach poet with a half-hearted yearning for an insect revolution; and mehitabel, a street-wise, pleasure-seeking grande dame of alley cats. The unlikely couple tell us stories from the places humans rarely go, where ants foretell the self-destruction of humanity and a cat exacts fur-ripping revenge on yet another faithless tom. But the play, based on the poetry and sketches of New York writer Don Marquis and directed by Fringe fave Jayson McDonald (Giant Invisible Robot, Boat Load), is anything but downbeat. Culbert alternately scuttles and sashays across the stage, effortlessly inhabiting the bugs and birds and cats that populate these tales. archy is funny and wise, and mehitabel is tough and life-loving, and there is a lot to learn from this scrappy duo.

- Jen Clark, Winnipeg Sun

CBC Winnipeg

Mankind sucks.   So says Archy the cockroach as he scuttles across the stage.   Only he says it in more and bigger words.   See, Archy was a free verse poet (the human kind) in a previous life.

His best friend is Mehitabel the resilient alley cat.   She's been many things in previous lives, including, she says, Cleopatra.

Both are brought vividly and unforgettably to life by Jeff Culbert, who adapted his material from the "archy and mehitabel" series of newspaper articles written by Don Marquis beginning in 1916.   Culbert is amazing, with a physical vocabulary that's rivaled only by his verbal one.   His is easily among the strongest performances at the Fringe.   And judging by Thursday's packed house, there are plenty of people still wanting to see the show after last year's successful run.

The play itself is a dense stew, a heady philosophical examination of humanity and its place in the cosmos. But if you've got a hearty appetite, there's lots here to chew on, and many tasty morsels.

Reviewed by Dean Jenkinson

Montreal Mirror

Archy is a bowlegged, bug-eyed, light-fearing cockroach, formerly a great human poet and currently a de facto representative of disenfranchised bugs clamouring for revolution. Mehitabel is a sultry feline with a trail of scratched-up male companions left in her wake and a carefree life motto of “ toujours gai. ” Taken from the famous works by Don Marquis and performed entirely by Jeff Culbert sans props or costume changes, these unlikely pals have vastly different perspectives on life and happiness. Culbert nails the mannerisms of both the jittery pest and the elegant yet streetwise tabby, as well as effortlessly manoeuvring through each linguistic obstacle course of a soliloquy. (Hour Stage, 4247 St-Dominique)

- Erik Leijon, Montreal Mirror

Ottawa Citizen

A pure delight, Jeff Culbert's take on Don Marquis' classic early 20th-century poems about an activist cockroach called Archy and his scrappy-but-elegant alley-cat pal named Mehitabel deserves a better venue than the sightline-challenged Janigan Studio at Ottawa Little Theatre.

Still, we'll take whatever we can get of Culbert's smart script, physical grace and obvious love of Marquis' observations about humanity's foibles, which serve as a jumping-off point for Culbert's own commentary on issues large and small. Culbert also plays a robin, an earthworm, a beetle and other inhabitants of Archy and Mehitabel's world. He invests each with its own world view and, in some cases, tragic ending.

- Patrick Langston, Ottawa Citizen

Uptown Magazine, Winnipeg - review rating: A

Inhabiting the dual roles of both a former poet now reincarnated into a politically conscious cockroach and a gracious feline who flutters about the stage is London, Ont. performer Jeff Culbert. Based on a series of newspaper columns by Don Marquis, Culbert has combed through the crème of the writer's crop to distill their essence for his pair of complimentary monologues. Archy is a skittering, curmudgeonly roach, distrustful of humankind while contemplating such anecdotes as what an ant once told him of an impending insect revolution; the aristocratically inclined Mehitabel briefs us on her own brazen points of view as she's batted about the cruel world. Culbert is able to imbue each with their own unique physical and verbal traits, making his rhapsodizing about the cosmos and fate an absolute pleasure to behold.

-  Aaron Graham, Uptown Magazine

UMFM (U of Manitoba)

In this one-person show, Jeff Culbert plays two characters – a cockroach named Archy who is trying to comprehend the behaviour of human beings and Mehitabel, a cat whose main concern is trying to find a good partner. I really liked this show because it was not only very funny but also makes you think about humanity. Culbert does a nice job changing his delivery and posture between the two characters- portraying Archy as nervous and tense and Mehitabel as sophisticated and refined. Symbolically, I suppose you can say that Archy represents the brain while Mehitabel represents the heart. I highly recommend you check out this show.

- Justin Olynyk UMFM (U of Manitoba)

Theatre in London

Jeff Culbert's one man show is a comical tale and a sly satire of the human condition. He slips easily between his whimsical characters and brings their contrasting viewpoints to life, changing persona and manner so completely and smoothly that he makes each metamorphosis seem almost real. There are some breathtaking soliloquies and many crafty verses. I recommend archy & mehitabel to those inclined toward a more thought provoking type of fun. But be warned: afterward you may never be able to look at insects in quite the same way.

-  Don Hey, Theatre in London

London Free Press

Jeff Culbert is terrific as both archy (ur-environmentalist, complainer, seer, visionary, poet, parodist, wit) and mehitabel (bohemian, wild, romantic, dancer, singer, survivor)...

Jeff doesn't go into the mechanics of how archy came to type his free verse on that newsroom typewriter . . . his focus is on the characters & their memorable words & true humanity.

It will surely be a Fringe hit . . . and you should get down to the Arts Project during what will be a brief & glorious run for archy & mehitabel this week.

- James Reaney, London Free Press