Reviewed by Fran Edwards
May 2012
It is always interesting to see something original and you approach it often with a touch of trepidation, will it entertain? Well, there may be plenty of faults, but yes it entertains!
Written by Chris Goy (with additional material by Dave Ross), I’m not sure if this David Spicer Productions script has been produced in SA before. Director James Barbary had a very enthusiastic cast to work with, and they gave it their all.
In the key roles of Frankie ‘the fingers’ Fuller and John ‘Duggs’ McGee, Mitchell Lowe and George Bannard play it for laughs and after a slightly shakey start they get them.
The other leads were working well too, Tiffany Barbary as Karen, Hayden Lowe as Tony, Paul Hutchison as Vince and Lauren Hollis as Veronica all give good performances. David Whittlesea and Madelaine Kehoe amuse as hippies Dean and Pearl, while Vannessa Schar and Rebecca Sladden give good support as Janet and Jane.
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The hotel staff played by Koah Spain, Martin Barbary and Danyon Crafts were fun, as were the silly policemen played by Anita Collis, Sally Fudge and Annie Gladis.
Having said that the music (which was uncredited) was adequate but uninspiring, the set, although it looked reasonable was badly designed and led to unrealistically long scene changes. These will get shorter as the season goes, but cannot get short enough due to the logistics of the design. We all know some spaces are hard to work with, experience will help.
Blackwood should be congratulated for a great effort, which managed to entertain despite all.
