Without a programme or cast list, then all I can do is take the names form the Greater Manchester Fringe Theatre's website, without knowing if these are the current three performers and indeed, which was which.
Three actors, Jack Robertson, Jacob Lovick and Chazz Redhead performed what might have been a rather improbable but obviously not impossible task this evening. In a spoof recreation of the B-Movie horrror genre which littered cinema screens for several decades, these three intrepid actor / comedians performed on stage a 'recreation of a long-long masterpiece from Britsih Anvil Studios - which mysteriously caught fire burning every last copy of all 603 films with it'.
To begin, the anorack-wearing 'nerds' introduced themselves by welcoming us to the film screening by the Sinema Society, and ended the evening again by thanking us for coming, even if the atmosphere was a little toasty!
What was clear thorughout that these three actors were skilled and highly professional. Their caricatures impeccable, and each one as different as chalk and cheese. With quasi-Shakespearean voices and excellent diction they could easily have been actors from a different era, but it was both refreshing and lovely to hear voices which at one time would have been said to have been 'trained'.
I enjoyed the premise of this story though far more than I actually enjoyed watching it. The entrances were somewhat sluggish and there was a lot of waiting around with seemingly not much happening. I have seen many farcical spoof plays in my time, and this one did drag it's heels quite a lot unfortunately. Moreover, the scripr was short of comedy lines. Once we had heard the name of the castle more than 3 or 4 times 'Mipants' - the joke just became wearisome and predictable, and there was precious little else in the way of humour in the script. Had it been a "full-on" Carry-On style comedy then it would have worked superbly, and even recent professional tours of The Hound Of The Baskervilles and The 39 Steps have been able to lampoon actual films far more successfully - yet here, they were not lampooning a real film, but had created a film, and therefore could have done absolutely ANYTHING with it! The possibilities were endless, and yet it was very 'middle of the road'.
The three actors were indeed talented and very easy and pleasing to watch, and their characterisations (or caricatures) very clearly distinguished; and the use of haze and a black back wall helped to create the right mood - as indeed did the voice-overs and accompanying music. However, the script was somewhat weak and needs tightening and making slicker. It would also be worth considering whether or not it is to be Carry-On-esque or have it funny just simply because it is a spoof of a classic film genre. As it is, it sits somewhere in between.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 21/7/19
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