Rocket Whip Theatre, a new and local company, are presenting their first Muscial offering at this year's Greater Manchester Fringe Theatre Festival at Tribeca. It's an original Musical, and is a very tongue-in-cheek romp of a show, which, like many similar shows before it (think 'Avenue Q' , 'Urinetown', or 'The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee') have started life in an off -off Broadway inauspicious setting; this show certainly has the makings of something bigger and more prestigious.
Written and directed by Liv Burton, she has taken a very satirical and sideways look at capitalism and communism, and then completely disregarded tham in favour of a super-hero style zany comedy. I am extremely uncertain why she chose to Americanise the whole thing: 'Dollaropolis' being the city where they live and are ruled over by an evil Amercian oligarch; with some of the dialogue and song lyrics relying on US English. The Musical was written in Britain for a British audience.
Written and directed by Liv Burton, she has taken a very satirical and sideways look at capitalism and communism, and then completely disregarded tham in favour of a super-hero style zany comedy. I am extremely uncertain why she chose to Americanise the whole thing: 'Dollaropolis' being the city where they live and are ruled over by an evil Amercian oligarch; with some of the dialogue and song lyrics relying on US English. The Musical was written in Britain for a British audience.
However, personal gripe aside; this was actually a clever and extremely funny 90 minutes. I'll forgive them for starting late and all the technical hiccoughs - it was their first night after all - and in fact, the ad-libs and technical problems only added to the humour... it was that kind of show!
Looking at the age of these performers I can only assume that they are either talented university students who read classics or history by day and wear a silly costume and 'save the world' by night, or they are in fact drama students. Whatever the case, they were a gifted bunch of 6 young adults who worked excellently together in this Fringe Chamber Musical.
The storyline follows a young boy called Karl, the son of a 300-year old mother, Mildron, who, according to this show, is The Founding Mother of Communism. He is given a quest on her deathbed to return the Sickel of Destiny and to stop the spread of Capitalism throughout the world. His two best friends at school of course help him (one of them being the 'love interest'), whilst he fights the evil megalomaniac's two hapless and idiotic sidekicks, Hot Dog Guy and The Broker. - see, told you it was a super-hero show, didn't I?!
With just two three-sided flats, and some coloured t-shirts, these six performers give their all to this show, and it totally pays dividend. The music is catchy, perfect for the style of show, and I loved the chorus harmonies. There is even a little choreography (despite the smallness of the stage) and this is simple but imaginative. The cast all know they are in a Musical (that's a part of the plot contrivance), and so everything is taken at face value (that's a part of the humour), and it is extremely corny, and very funny!
The six performers this evening - all of whom deserve equal credit - were Abi Beaven (Hot Dog Guy), Arisha-Jane Marsh (The Broker), Emmy Millington (Mildron The Destroyer), Emma Flynn (Emily), Jake Smeeton (Karl), and Ollie Hall (Max).
This is a show that wears it's heart and it's soul on it's sleeve, not taking itself too seriously at all, and, surprisingly has little or nothing to do with communism either! It's a little uncomfortable and cooked-up down in the basement of Tribeca and they have to perform on a tiny triangular stage (which is odd!) - but don't let any of that put you off; this is a show which could easily find itself being taken up by a larger production company - it has, as we say in the biz, got legs!
The six performers this evening - all of whom deserve equal credit - were Abi Beaven (Hot Dog Guy), Arisha-Jane Marsh (The Broker), Emmy Millington (Mildron The Destroyer), Emma Flynn (Emily), Jake Smeeton (Karl), and Ollie Hall (Max).
This is a show that wears it's heart and it's soul on it's sleeve, not taking itself too seriously at all, and, surprisingly has little or nothing to do with communism either! It's a little uncomfortable and cooked-up down in the basement of Tribeca and they have to perform on a tiny triangular stage (which is odd!) - but don't let any of that put you off; this is a show which could easily find itself being taken up by a larger production company - it has, as we say in the biz, got legs!
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 21.9.21
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