Low Down

The year : 1816. The place: A villa by Lake Geneva. The characters: Lord Byron; Percy Shelley; and their boatman Maurice.  With these facts in place and a single word suggestion from the audience, Gelastic Band productions present an hour long improvised comedy play in the suitably gothic Old Library in St Mary’s Church.

Review

Last night’s show, with the audience generated title “Bereavement”, followed Byron and Shelley as they were visited by a recently widowed (and more recently remarried) distant relative, her sadist husband and their children.  All of this action however happens offstage, and what the audience sees are the reactions of the self centred and irresponsible Byron (played by an often scene-stealing Joe Morpurgo) and the uptight, serious Shelley (Andy Murray) as they completely failed to deal with the situation – with a little help and inspiration from trusty Maurice (Craig Holmes).

The three performers are all talented improvisers, and the show as a whole is enjoyable with some moments of brilliance.  However overall I think that these Romantics are still finding their feet in terms of their format.  There were times when the plot became a little confused (a constantly-lurking trap for any impro troupe), and this perhaps could have been avoided if the actors themselves had been in charge of when the scenes end (as it is, scenes are controlled from the lighting box).  Additionally I would like to have seen both the characters and the environment in which they played more clearly defined: such well known roles should serve as a delightful spring board for new possibilities, but at times some of the historical elements of the roles seemed instead to be restraining the actors, whilst other character traits had not been developed enough in rehearsal.  Credit to the performers, in the end the story threads were tied up nicely and with suitable comic panache, but the small moments where direction was lost diminished the pizzazz that such skilful plot weaving should evoke.

Overall ‘Byron and Shelley: A Romantics Comedy’ is a good show with a great deal of potential:  the cast are talented, the setting is well thought out, and the on-stage dynamic is often hilarious.   As with all improvised shows, some nights will be better than others - and I’m sure that when they get it right, they really get it right - but the show seems young and needs to grow into its skin a little more.  That said, once the group have a little more experience in the roles this could be a first rate production, and currently it is still an enjoyable way to spend an hour.

 

Reviewed by Rebecca Tay 10/04/10

Website :

http://www.gelasticband.co.uk/?page_id=7