Blackeyed
Theatre at Civic
15.09.11
Jim Hutchon was in the trenches ...
Director
Adrian McDougall’s take on this savage WW1 satire combined the
inexhaustible energy of a team of five music men, with superb touches
of imagination and pointed video backdrops to bring out the pointless
butchery of the war to end wars.
Although
all the actors are seasoned professionals, the tone of the production
was almost student-like in enthusiasm and boundless talent as the
players slipped easily – and with split-second timing - between the
30+ characters they portrayed. A nice imaginative touch was that as
each took on the different persona, their costume stands stood as
white crosses, so that, by the end of the show, the stage was
littered with them.
It
is, first and foremost, a musical, and each of the players performed
expertly on a variety of instruments, with, generally, excellent
voices. Occasionally though, some of the monologues were a bit
overwhelmed by the closeness of the trumpets and saxes. The jokes
were also well-timed and pointed, frequently leaving the audience
feeling guilty at laughing.
This
was an evening of real entertainment – a fresh coat of paint to a
familiar classic - and the near full house audience left the theatre
smiling and humming the memorable songs.
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