The Bang Gang
July 27, 2008
Venue: The Alnwick Playhouse, Northumberland
Date Reviewed: 26th July, 2008
The Bad Fox Theatre Company presented The Bang Gang for one night in Alnwick, Northumberland prior to a run at the Edinburgh Festival, where it will play at the Zoo Southside.
The Bang Gang is a new play by Lee Mattinson, who won awards for his other short play Me and Cilla, a play he rewrote in to a full length production, which was recently presented at the Live Theatre, Newcastle.
Within seconds of the Bang Gang starting, it felt all too familiar, as one of the characters had an obsession with Karen Carpenter, in his previous play it was Cilla Black.
The premise for the play is a new doctor visiting three patients who have serious mental disorders, Karen (Angie Cope) eats clothes, Meg (Helen Buchanan) is a fantasist who believes everything from her being the original Annie in the musical, to playing R2D2 in Stars Wars, as well as being friends with all of the Hollywood elite. Meanwhile, Stripey ( Lee Foster) burns people. He starts the show perched on a chair amongst the audience, having taken his position before the auditorium opens.
While all the cast are faultless in their interpretations, Sean Wildey excels as Dr Tyson. He switches personalities and accents instantly and thankfully is always worth watching, especially when he turns in to the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz. I really look forward to seeing him in a vehicle that is really worthy of his talents.
Each character has their past stripped away by Dr Tynson, who has unexpectedly replaced Dr Fox, revealing the terrible pasts that have brought on their afflictions.
But the stories chop and change and are aided (or hindered) by soundtracks from the Carpenters, Annie, Mary Poppins and South Pacific as well as jokes and references to Rose West and paedophilia.
Just like his earlier play Me and Cilla, Mattinson does not seem to know what to leave out, so throws in mad cap ideas which miss the mark. There is certainly a good idea in here somewhere, but the final twist is so obvious from a very early stage, that this play needs to go back to the drawing board to get it to work.
Director, Katie Posner, does get the best out of her cast but apart from admiring the performances and commitment to the material from the cast, there is little to enjoy here. In fact in this 70 minute play, I felt it was the last 69 minutes that spoil it.
Zoo Southside, EdinburghAugust 1-2, 3-9, 11-16, 18-22, £6 (£5)1 hour 10 mins
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