Dirk Gently's Thompson's Gazelle Review
Wed, 4 July 2001, 06:28 pmWalter Plinge1 post in thread
Dirk Gently's Thompson's Gazelle Review
Wed, 4 July 2001, 06:28 pm[sorry...managed to put this in "gossip" by mistake. Here it is where I intended it to go :) ]
What can I say!!! What a great cast party!!!! Possibly the finest I've been to.
Oh...and the play was o.k too (damn, must stay focussed).
Dirk Gently (or the Dr Koppelius reunion gig as I rudely referred to it at interval) was probably the best theatre experience of my short exposure to the thespian arts. The opening domionated by Cavan (Dirk Gently) and Kingsley (Chronotis) who spliced together would have made a damn fine Tom Baker's Doctor from "Doctor Who" (coincidence given the subject matter???) was well executed with all principals called upon to execute much concentration to make the freeze frames (IMHO) segue well in the general unfolding of the scene and story.
I'm not a reviewer of any type so I'll dispense with any story revelations in favour of why this production ticked along so well and just generally....um....boogied.
Kingsley - felt you were one of the standouts in Wyrd Sisters but Dirk really let your talents out - lots of physical acting and the mannerisms you gave your character were well thought out and assisted us in believing you were many decades in advance of your actual age. Loved the voice - you carried it superbly throughout the performance and your comic timing was to be envied. In summary - you are a bastard - I am envious. The fact that you are a talented bastard does not excuse the fact that you are still a bastard.
Cavan - nicely judged performance. You could have really emphasised the ecentricities of the character which may have upstaged any of the other more eccentric characters (Chronotis or Wenton-Weekes for instance) but you wisely chose to play it pretty straight. Highest praise I can give you is that the way you acted it is pretty much as I imagined the character acting when I read the book.
Patrick - the physical transformation from Wenton-Weekes to Possessed Wenton-Weekes was frightening enough. However, the moment where you and Chronotis were eyeball to forehead was a highlight in itself. Great, great performance (if I praise you more will you give me a part in one of Vagabond's future productions??) and the final alien costume complete with goggles made you look like an escapee from The Buggles (eighties group most famous for the song "Video Killed The Radio Star"). Regrettably you lose out on the Ministry Of Silly Walks award to Kingsley whose walk when returning from discovering a horse in his bathroom was inspired.
Grant - winner of the ad-lib award for this particular play with his "stupid as a Thompson's Gazelle" line although I have to admit it was a toss-up between this and Renate's "Welcome to the Darkside". Grant harbours a dark secret - he is a reformed (???) Doctor Who fan and this certainly would have aided his knowledge of the subject matter. That said - his police inspector was the insult equivalent of Edmund Blackadder sporting the old "tit on the head". Wot a bastard.
Renate - really liked you in Dr Koppelius but felt you filled a number of character parts in this production with great aplomb and only wished there had been more for you to do.
Nathan - me old mate. Every production you are in I feel it my duty to inform you of how shithouse you were to ensure your feet remain firmly grounded. I regard this as a measure of the great friendship we have - I don't let your talent go to your head and you are encouraged to remind me of how great I am to protect my fragile self esteem. Well. NO MORE!!! Will someone please give this lad more than 3 lines in a play!!!! Hes really good.
Simon - he paid me to write something nice. Having played opposite you where you had the role of a particularly commanding (and threatening - who can forget that chainsaw) chappie it was highly amusing to see you cast in the role of a hapless copper cursed with particularly unsettling features and a sadistic boss. Looking forward to seeing you in Bouncers.
Drew - congratulations on teaching Nathan how to dance. No wonder your hair changed colour. You cheated though - I saw the strings manipulating his limbs.
Heres where I make a tit of myself by admitting I've lost the programme and can't remember the names of the other principals. Sorry - you were all great. There was no weakest link. You all looked more than comfortable in your respective roles.
All in all - tightest set of perfomances on stage I've seen in Perth amateur theatre.
Sets - excellent, well thought out and they fitted in well with the projection segments.
Lighting - more Dr Koppelius ppl in evidence here - well done Shelley (hope I got the name right - going by memory) and crew.
Choreography - can't wait to see you on stage again Drew...especially with that hair colour!!!!
Director - Jo - fantastic job and evident by the regard and affection the cast obviously had for you. I would imagine this was not the easiest production to mount and there must have been many logistical and casting headaches (particularly when so many talented actors are moving from Perth to Busselton these days). All I can say is the play was worth the admission and more and I enjoyed it on its merits alone but even more so because it seemed obvious the cast also had a lot of enthusiasm for the material and were really stretching themselves. If it all goes wrong its often pinned on the director so if its goes right......
Would love to see you attack Hitchhikers or Rocky Horror and I personally would take three months leave just to be part of any such endeavour.
Kudos folks
Muzza (lyricist and singer for Killing Skippy - the Killing Heidi cover band born out of discussion at the cast party)
Play ****
Cast Party ***1/2 (Patrick - extra star and a half if you'd played The Pixies, The Ramones, Echo & The Bunnymen or Stone Roses in lieu of the AC/DC top 1000 hits you elected to play instead).....(j/k)
What can I say!!! What a great cast party!!!! Possibly the finest I've been to.
Oh...and the play was o.k too (damn, must stay focussed).
Dirk Gently (or the Dr Koppelius reunion gig as I rudely referred to it at interval) was probably the best theatre experience of my short exposure to the thespian arts. The opening domionated by Cavan (Dirk Gently) and Kingsley (Chronotis) who spliced together would have made a damn fine Tom Baker's Doctor from "Doctor Who" (coincidence given the subject matter???) was well executed with all principals called upon to execute much concentration to make the freeze frames (IMHO) segue well in the general unfolding of the scene and story.
I'm not a reviewer of any type so I'll dispense with any story revelations in favour of why this production ticked along so well and just generally....um....boogied.
Kingsley - felt you were one of the standouts in Wyrd Sisters but Dirk really let your talents out - lots of physical acting and the mannerisms you gave your character were well thought out and assisted us in believing you were many decades in advance of your actual age. Loved the voice - you carried it superbly throughout the performance and your comic timing was to be envied. In summary - you are a bastard - I am envious. The fact that you are a talented bastard does not excuse the fact that you are still a bastard.
Cavan - nicely judged performance. You could have really emphasised the ecentricities of the character which may have upstaged any of the other more eccentric characters (Chronotis or Wenton-Weekes for instance) but you wisely chose to play it pretty straight. Highest praise I can give you is that the way you acted it is pretty much as I imagined the character acting when I read the book.
Patrick - the physical transformation from Wenton-Weekes to Possessed Wenton-Weekes was frightening enough. However, the moment where you and Chronotis were eyeball to forehead was a highlight in itself. Great, great performance (if I praise you more will you give me a part in one of Vagabond's future productions??) and the final alien costume complete with goggles made you look like an escapee from The Buggles (eighties group most famous for the song "Video Killed The Radio Star"). Regrettably you lose out on the Ministry Of Silly Walks award to Kingsley whose walk when returning from discovering a horse in his bathroom was inspired.
Grant - winner of the ad-lib award for this particular play with his "stupid as a Thompson's Gazelle" line although I have to admit it was a toss-up between this and Renate's "Welcome to the Darkside". Grant harbours a dark secret - he is a reformed (???) Doctor Who fan and this certainly would have aided his knowledge of the subject matter. That said - his police inspector was the insult equivalent of Edmund Blackadder sporting the old "tit on the head". Wot a bastard.
Renate - really liked you in Dr Koppelius but felt you filled a number of character parts in this production with great aplomb and only wished there had been more for you to do.
Nathan - me old mate. Every production you are in I feel it my duty to inform you of how shithouse you were to ensure your feet remain firmly grounded. I regard this as a measure of the great friendship we have - I don't let your talent go to your head and you are encouraged to remind me of how great I am to protect my fragile self esteem. Well. NO MORE!!! Will someone please give this lad more than 3 lines in a play!!!! Hes really good.
Simon - he paid me to write something nice. Having played opposite you where you had the role of a particularly commanding (and threatening - who can forget that chainsaw) chappie it was highly amusing to see you cast in the role of a hapless copper cursed with particularly unsettling features and a sadistic boss. Looking forward to seeing you in Bouncers.
Drew - congratulations on teaching Nathan how to dance. No wonder your hair changed colour. You cheated though - I saw the strings manipulating his limbs.
Heres where I make a tit of myself by admitting I've lost the programme and can't remember the names of the other principals. Sorry - you were all great. There was no weakest link. You all looked more than comfortable in your respective roles.
All in all - tightest set of perfomances on stage I've seen in Perth amateur theatre.
Sets - excellent, well thought out and they fitted in well with the projection segments.
Lighting - more Dr Koppelius ppl in evidence here - well done Shelley (hope I got the name right - going by memory) and crew.
Choreography - can't wait to see you on stage again Drew...especially with that hair colour!!!!
Director - Jo - fantastic job and evident by the regard and affection the cast obviously had for you. I would imagine this was not the easiest production to mount and there must have been many logistical and casting headaches (particularly when so many talented actors are moving from Perth to Busselton these days). All I can say is the play was worth the admission and more and I enjoyed it on its merits alone but even more so because it seemed obvious the cast also had a lot of enthusiasm for the material and were really stretching themselves. If it all goes wrong its often pinned on the director so if its goes right......
Would love to see you attack Hitchhikers or Rocky Horror and I personally would take three months leave just to be part of any such endeavour.
Kudos folks
Muzza (lyricist and singer for Killing Skippy - the Killing Heidi cover band born out of discussion at the cast party)
Play ****
Cast Party ***1/2 (Patrick - extra star and a half if you'd played The Pixies, The Ramones, Echo & The Bunnymen or Stone Roses in lieu of the AC/DC top 1000 hits you elected to play instead).....(j/k)
Walter PlingeWed, 4 July 2001, 06:28 pm
[sorry...managed to put this in "gossip" by mistake. Here it is where I intended it to go :) ]
What can I say!!! What a great cast party!!!! Possibly the finest I've been to.
Oh...and the play was o.k too (damn, must stay focussed).
Dirk Gently (or the Dr Koppelius reunion gig as I rudely referred to it at interval) was probably the best theatre experience of my short exposure to the thespian arts. The opening domionated by Cavan (Dirk Gently) and Kingsley (Chronotis) who spliced together would have made a damn fine Tom Baker's Doctor from "Doctor Who" (coincidence given the subject matter???) was well executed with all principals called upon to execute much concentration to make the freeze frames (IMHO) segue well in the general unfolding of the scene and story.
I'm not a reviewer of any type so I'll dispense with any story revelations in favour of why this production ticked along so well and just generally....um....boogied.
Kingsley - felt you were one of the standouts in Wyrd Sisters but Dirk really let your talents out - lots of physical acting and the mannerisms you gave your character were well thought out and assisted us in believing you were many decades in advance of your actual age. Loved the voice - you carried it superbly throughout the performance and your comic timing was to be envied. In summary - you are a bastard - I am envious. The fact that you are a talented bastard does not excuse the fact that you are still a bastard.
Cavan - nicely judged performance. You could have really emphasised the ecentricities of the character which may have upstaged any of the other more eccentric characters (Chronotis or Wenton-Weekes for instance) but you wisely chose to play it pretty straight. Highest praise I can give you is that the way you acted it is pretty much as I imagined the character acting when I read the book.
Patrick - the physical transformation from Wenton-Weekes to Possessed Wenton-Weekes was frightening enough. However, the moment where you and Chronotis were eyeball to forehead was a highlight in itself. Great, great performance (if I praise you more will you give me a part in one of Vagabond's future productions??) and the final alien costume complete with goggles made you look like an escapee from The Buggles (eighties group most famous for the song "Video Killed The Radio Star"). Regrettably you lose out on the Ministry Of Silly Walks award to Kingsley whose walk when returning from discovering a horse in his bathroom was inspired.
Grant - winner of the ad-lib award for this particular play with his "stupid as a Thompson's Gazelle" line although I have to admit it was a toss-up between this and Renate's "Welcome to the Darkside". Grant harbours a dark secret - he is a reformed (???) Doctor Who fan and this certainly would have aided his knowledge of the subject matter. That said - his police inspector was the insult equivalent of Edmund Blackadder sporting the old "tit on the head". Wot a bastard.
Renate - really liked you in Dr Koppelius but felt you filled a number of character parts in this production with great aplomb and only wished there had been more for you to do.
Nathan - me old mate. Every production you are in I feel it my duty to inform you of how shithouse you were to ensure your feet remain firmly grounded. I regard this as a measure of the great friendship we have - I don't let your talent go to your head and you are encouraged to remind me of how great I am to protect my fragile self esteem. Well. NO MORE!!! Will someone please give this lad more than 3 lines in a play!!!! Hes really good.
Simon - he paid me to write something nice. Having played opposite you where you had the role of a particularly commanding (and threatening - who can forget that chainsaw) chappie it was highly amusing to see you cast in the role of a hapless copper cursed with particularly unsettling features and a sadistic boss. Looking forward to seeing you in Bouncers.
Drew - congratulations on teaching Nathan how to dance. No wonder your hair changed colour. You cheated though - I saw the strings manipulating his limbs.
Heres where I make a tit of myself by admitting I've lost the programme and can't remember the names of the other principals. Sorry - you were all great. There was no weakest link. You all looked more than comfortable in your respective roles.
All in all - tightest set of perfomances on stage I've seen in Perth amateur theatre.
Sets - excellent, well thought out and they fitted in well with the projection segments.
Lighting - more Dr Koppelius ppl in evidence here - well done Shelley (hope I got the name right - going by memory) and crew.
Choreography - can't wait to see you on stage again Drew...especially with that hair colour!!!!
Director - Jo - fantastic job and evident by the regard and affection the cast obviously had for you. I would imagine this was not the easiest production to mount and there must have been many logistical and casting headaches (particularly when so many talented actors are moving from Perth to Busselton these days). All I can say is the play was worth the admission and more and I enjoyed it on its merits alone but even more so because it seemed obvious the cast also had a lot of enthusiasm for the material and were really stretching themselves. If it all goes wrong its often pinned on the director so if its goes right......
Would love to see you attack Hitchhikers or Rocky Horror and I personally would take three months leave just to be part of any such endeavour.
Kudos folks
Muzza (lyricist and singer for Killing Skippy - the Killing Heidi cover band born out of discussion at the cast party)
Play ****
Cast Party ***1/2 (Patrick - extra star and a half if you'd played The Pixies, The Ramones, Echo & The Bunnymen or Stone Roses in lieu of the AC/DC top 1000 hits you elected to play instead).....(j/k)
What can I say!!! What a great cast party!!!! Possibly the finest I've been to.
Oh...and the play was o.k too (damn, must stay focussed).
Dirk Gently (or the Dr Koppelius reunion gig as I rudely referred to it at interval) was probably the best theatre experience of my short exposure to the thespian arts. The opening domionated by Cavan (Dirk Gently) and Kingsley (Chronotis) who spliced together would have made a damn fine Tom Baker's Doctor from "Doctor Who" (coincidence given the subject matter???) was well executed with all principals called upon to execute much concentration to make the freeze frames (IMHO) segue well in the general unfolding of the scene and story.
I'm not a reviewer of any type so I'll dispense with any story revelations in favour of why this production ticked along so well and just generally....um....boogied.
Kingsley - felt you were one of the standouts in Wyrd Sisters but Dirk really let your talents out - lots of physical acting and the mannerisms you gave your character were well thought out and assisted us in believing you were many decades in advance of your actual age. Loved the voice - you carried it superbly throughout the performance and your comic timing was to be envied. In summary - you are a bastard - I am envious. The fact that you are a talented bastard does not excuse the fact that you are still a bastard.
Cavan - nicely judged performance. You could have really emphasised the ecentricities of the character which may have upstaged any of the other more eccentric characters (Chronotis or Wenton-Weekes for instance) but you wisely chose to play it pretty straight. Highest praise I can give you is that the way you acted it is pretty much as I imagined the character acting when I read the book.
Patrick - the physical transformation from Wenton-Weekes to Possessed Wenton-Weekes was frightening enough. However, the moment where you and Chronotis were eyeball to forehead was a highlight in itself. Great, great performance (if I praise you more will you give me a part in one of Vagabond's future productions??) and the final alien costume complete with goggles made you look like an escapee from The Buggles (eighties group most famous for the song "Video Killed The Radio Star"). Regrettably you lose out on the Ministry Of Silly Walks award to Kingsley whose walk when returning from discovering a horse in his bathroom was inspired.
Grant - winner of the ad-lib award for this particular play with his "stupid as a Thompson's Gazelle" line although I have to admit it was a toss-up between this and Renate's "Welcome to the Darkside". Grant harbours a dark secret - he is a reformed (???) Doctor Who fan and this certainly would have aided his knowledge of the subject matter. That said - his police inspector was the insult equivalent of Edmund Blackadder sporting the old "tit on the head". Wot a bastard.
Renate - really liked you in Dr Koppelius but felt you filled a number of character parts in this production with great aplomb and only wished there had been more for you to do.
Nathan - me old mate. Every production you are in I feel it my duty to inform you of how shithouse you were to ensure your feet remain firmly grounded. I regard this as a measure of the great friendship we have - I don't let your talent go to your head and you are encouraged to remind me of how great I am to protect my fragile self esteem. Well. NO MORE!!! Will someone please give this lad more than 3 lines in a play!!!! Hes really good.
Simon - he paid me to write something nice. Having played opposite you where you had the role of a particularly commanding (and threatening - who can forget that chainsaw) chappie it was highly amusing to see you cast in the role of a hapless copper cursed with particularly unsettling features and a sadistic boss. Looking forward to seeing you in Bouncers.
Drew - congratulations on teaching Nathan how to dance. No wonder your hair changed colour. You cheated though - I saw the strings manipulating his limbs.
Heres where I make a tit of myself by admitting I've lost the programme and can't remember the names of the other principals. Sorry - you were all great. There was no weakest link. You all looked more than comfortable in your respective roles.
All in all - tightest set of perfomances on stage I've seen in Perth amateur theatre.
Sets - excellent, well thought out and they fitted in well with the projection segments.
Lighting - more Dr Koppelius ppl in evidence here - well done Shelley (hope I got the name right - going by memory) and crew.
Choreography - can't wait to see you on stage again Drew...especially with that hair colour!!!!
Director - Jo - fantastic job and evident by the regard and affection the cast obviously had for you. I would imagine this was not the easiest production to mount and there must have been many logistical and casting headaches (particularly when so many talented actors are moving from Perth to Busselton these days). All I can say is the play was worth the admission and more and I enjoyed it on its merits alone but even more so because it seemed obvious the cast also had a lot of enthusiasm for the material and were really stretching themselves. If it all goes wrong its often pinned on the director so if its goes right......
Would love to see you attack Hitchhikers or Rocky Horror and I personally would take three months leave just to be part of any such endeavour.
Kudos folks
Muzza (lyricist and singer for Killing Skippy - the Killing Heidi cover band born out of discussion at the cast party)
Play ****
Cast Party ***1/2 (Patrick - extra star and a half if you'd played The Pixies, The Ramones, Echo & The Bunnymen or Stone Roses in lieu of the AC/DC top 1000 hits you elected to play instead).....(j/k)