Constantinople

The city of Constantinople—once Europe's largest and wealthiest city, now known as Istanbul—is dissected, revitalised and given a distinct Kiwi makeover in this unashamedly fun romp through forgotten history.

Winner of the STAMP award at the Auckland Fringe earlier this year, Constantinople goes where few historical comedies have dared go before and presents the story of the city's fall through mime, song, props and togas.

The imaginative show features an aspiring house DJ, a hedonistic Emperor with a penchant for snorting black pepper, and moments of sheer, unadulterated homoerotic fantasy. It also manages to fill in a number of gaps that history forgot to mention – did you know that horses in Constantinople could hold conversation with both horses and humans? No? Neither did the historians.

Enjoyable, silly and rebellious, Constantinople removes all the boundaries of theatre in order to bring you a story of almost childlike adventure, delight and high quality slapstick. However, it's a little hard to follow in places and, performed in a space that's interrupted by the live band next door and occasionally a waitress, the room itself just doesn't seem big enough for such a wild and uninhibited story. 

An open mind is an essential before seeing this entertaining and original—but often very confusing—comic show that's likely to leave you a little bewildered.