DAFT, hilarious, a terrific cheerer-upper. That’s Good Luck Studio, on at the Playhouse till November 5. And who doesn’t need to lose themselves in laughter right now amid the encircling gloom?
The set is a children’s TV programme, featuring a singing dragon, a frog puppet and a princess dressed as a pineapple, plus a Brian Blessed-style over-the-top wicked king bellowing atop a castle turret, and there’s plenty of panto-style slapstick.
But it’s not for the kiddies. There’s a darker side to this farce, involving a rejected actor with a gun. And a lot of the jokes are definitely for adult ears.
It’s from the team behind those ‘Play That Goes Wrong’ comedies – described in the Telegraph as “the funniest theatre troupe in Britain”.
The opening few minutes were a bit slow with the necessary scene-setting but soon calamity started piling on calamity, and it got so silly that the audience were quite carried away with it, and many were on their feet applauding at the end.
I was surprised to find one of my favourite comedians, Tom Walker – better known by millions for his spoof news reports as ranting political correspondent Jonathan Pie – playing the absolutely horrible director, Andy, to perfection. Having loved a couple of his live solo shows, I’d never have expected to see him in an ensemble like this, but this was a real team effort, and it worked brilliantly.
A special mention also for Greg Tannahill as first aider Kevin, and an inspired scene in which he superglues his trousers. Doesn’t sound much when you put it like that, but you have to have been there.
Picture by Pamela Raith
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