Reviewed by Laraine Ball
July 2011
This fun play by Craig Sodaro has lots of action and adventure and is the perfect vehicle to show off the talents of the youth crew at TTP.
Set on the old cruise ship SS Flounder this is a singles only cruise but many of the passengers have their own agendas including a couple of stowaways, a prince incognito, a reporter sniffing out a story and a gangster chasing up some stolen money.
Directors Penny Phillips and Lisa Wilton did a lot of work on this play and their efforts were well rewarded. Thanks to them the characters were very good and well sustained although some of the interactions were a little stilted no doubt due to lack of actual life experience.
All the ship’s crew did very well with their unison swaying making the ship seem quite real at times and although the entire cast did a great job overall there were a few standouts which need to be mentioned.
Emily Kinnear was excellent as Madelaine Marks the mother, her portrayal was spot on and quite at odds with her actual age.
Liam Brownlie was an impressive Captain Craig, Caleb Bond was marvelous as Jarvis the prince’s valet and Lachlan Blackwell and Anthony Cox were fabulous as the stowaway gangsters Max and Bubba and had fun dressing up as the old ladies Lolly and Dolly.
Sarah Frearson and Charlotte Hale were also very convincing as the ‘real’ old ladies Esther and Hester showing particularly good body language.
The box set designed by Lisa Wilton was just the thing and the three entrances worked very well, a good idea not to clutter the stage with doors.
With the large painted porthole by scenic artist Jasmine Dixon the feeling of being on board ship was further established.
Costumes by Jo Allenby were splendid, the crew whites allowing them to stand out from the passengers.
All in all a very entertaining cruise which was enjoyed by all
