Saturday 11th March, 2017 at Leeds Carriageworks Theatre (Upstairs).
⭐️⭐️
The Butcher is marketed as a ‘fantastical 4 star folk tale’ from the talented Paul Mosley: part gig, part ghost story and part puppet show. The tagline teases “Is it a gig? Is it a ghost story? Is it a puppet show? Yes.” Now, I’m a huge puppetry fan, and any promise of it in a show not specifically aimed at children pretty much always makes me part with money. To lure me in with the promise of ‘stunning puppetry from Icelandic company Old Saw’ and then to include absolutely no puppetry at all is unforgivable. There. I said it.
So, is it a gig? Yes.
Is it a ghost story? I guess, though it’s not exactly haunting.
Is it a puppet show? No.
The Butcher is a thoroughbred gig. It encourages the atmosphere of a gig, with extended applause and whoops between each of the 20ish songs, and someone’s adorable young son sits in full view at the back of the stage, eating a chocolate biscuit. The show gives the audience two hours of great, catchy folk music courtesy of Paul Mosley and his accompanying ‘Red Meat Orchestra’.
It is not, however, in any way a performance outside of a musical gig. There are countless areas of potential, and it could be the gripping tale promised if more time were put into the actual performance elements. For instance, the narrative between songs is read from a ring binder which is slowly passed about the stage. Those segments could have been so much more powerful if they had been rehearsed and developed into actual performance rather than clunky, lack-lustre readings. Perhaps that’s where the puppetry should have made an appearance?
That’s not to say that there aren’t worthy performances here – I genuinely enjoyed the music. Each and every musician on that stage is clearly a huge talent. Paul Mosley has a superb, versatile voice and possesses that rare talent of a raspiness that can be brought about on cue. Esther Dee’s voice sweetly soars through the slower songs and handles the more fiery songs very comfortably. Jack Harris has a fantastic, smooth voice which wouldn’t be out of place on a Mumford and Sons track.
It’s great to hear such talented vocalists perform a striking, beautifully written and often toe-tapping collection of songs. I particularly loved the title song, ‘Shadows On The Wall’ and ‘No Hound Dog On Your Trail’ – and I also loved the wide array of both ‘proper’ and improvised instruments being used by this ‘junk orchestra’ – from frying pans to tins of beans and a wooden block capable of producing the sounds of a tooting train!
Ultimately, had this been marketed as a gig, it would be a 4 star show, but it was marketed as much more and simply didn’t deliver the goods. I did enjoy the music so much that I bought the album at the end of the show though, so there’s that…
Always Time For Theatre 
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