The Popular Mechanicals
Fri, 31 Aug 2007, 08:15 amGordon the Optom1 post in thread
The Popular Mechanicals
Fri, 31 Aug 2007, 08:15 amThe show is on at 8.00 pm on Friday 31 August, Saturday 1st September, and again on 4 -8th September.
This is the tale of a group of untalented, wandering entertainers (rude mechanicals) at the time of Shakespeare – although the many anachronisms add to the fun. Under the leadership of their director, Quince (Colin Craig) they are rehearsing Bottom’s (Angelique Jorre de St Jorre) play within a play from ‘A midsummer night’s dream’ when they hear of a competition, the prize being to perform at a royal wedding. The cast are joined by an alcoholic, famous thespian that has an amorous eye for the Flute, the young boy actor (Kelly Paterniti).
The depth of character portrayal, combined with the superb timing of these comics, was a good as I have seen anywhere. The telephone call between Snout (Ailish Lydon) and Starveling (Taysa White-Borgelt) had the audience rolling around.
Although this could be classed as a hammed-up pantomime, the brilliant quality of the script with its many puns, double-entendres and genuinely funny jokes takes it into another class. As the directors Duncan Sharp and Kelvin Jay Hourquebie say in the programme, ‘this is the play that Shakespeare meant to write, and would have, had he been any good!’
The performances are masterful. Often a play has a single central comic with a few stooges, here are a complete team working in unison. There are 6 very different characters, as with Snug, the joiner (Stacy Gougoulis) who has no poetic skills whatsoever, but can certainly carry off a good Chuck Berry impersonation to the compositions of musical director Kat Shaw.
I am so pleased that this new theatre has got off to such an exciting start. I can thoroughly recommend this theatrical production to one and all. An uproarious dramatic piece, from a great deal of talent both on and off stage.
The show is on at 8.00 pm on Friday 31 August, Saturday 1st September, and again on 4 -8th September.
This is the tale of a group of untalented, wandering entertainers (rude mechanicals) at the time of Shakespeare – although the many anachronisms add to the fun. Under the leadership of their director, Quince (Colin Craig) they are rehearsing Bottom’s (Angelique Jorre de St Jorre) play within a play from ‘A midsummer night’s dream’ when they hear of a competition, the prize being to perform at a royal wedding. The cast are joined by an alcoholic, famous thespian that has an amorous eye for the Flute, the young boy actor (Kelly Paterniti).
The depth of character portrayal, combined with the superb timing of these comics, was a good as I have seen anywhere. The telephone call between Snout (Ailish Lydon) and Starveling (Taysa White-Borgelt) had the audience rolling around.
Although this could be classed as a hammed-up pantomime, the brilliant quality of the script with its many puns, double-entendres and genuinely funny jokes takes it into another class. As the directors Duncan Sharp and Kelvin Jay Hourquebie say in the programme, ‘this is the play that Shakespeare meant to write, and would have, had he been any good!’
The performances are masterful. Often a play has a single central comic with a few stooges, here are a complete team working in unison. There are 6 very different characters, as with Snug, the joiner (Stacy Gougoulis) who has no poetic skills whatsoever, but can certainly carry off a good Chuck Berry impersonation to the compositions of musical director Kat Shaw.
I am so pleased that this new theatre has got off to such an exciting start. I can thoroughly recommend this theatrical production to one and all. An uproarious dramatic piece, from a great deal of talent both on and off stage.