Holy Mackerel! - Essentialsuffolk.com

I'm not too sure how or why but I've never seen an Eastern Angles production. There; the confession is out of the bag but, more importantly, the situation has been rectified and now I want more! In the intimate surroundings of the Sir John Mills Theatre, with the audience in the round, the scene was set for the Newlyn Fish Riots of 1896. At a glance unlikely subject matter for family entertainment but, as the farce unfolded Harry Long's incredibly clever script, woven with music by Stu McLoughlin, skipped through the history lesson. Instead it settled on the improbable personal mission of a lowly Lowestoft fisherman, his fellow East Anglian trawler men and the Wesleyan community they ‘invaded' of western-most Cornwall.

The laughter was in full flow from the off. With just five multi-talented players in the company we were first introduced to the Newlyn Tourist Information team; a dysfunctional group to say the least with Mabel Clements (Alice) an extraordinary psycho kept on a lead by her ‘colleagues'. Oh so cleverly they in turn revealed their Newlyn alter egos complete with the accentuated ‘r's' of the West Country accent. It's at this point that the simple yet well thought out wardrobe come into its own as, if ever in doubt, we can keep track of who's who as their names are stitched into the garments.

In contrast the East Anglian accents for our merry band of visiting fishermen were suitably and admirably, burr-less. The high energy comedy worked superbly well in the limited space, with a versatile set lending multiple options for storage - and hiding! No farce is complete without multiple doorways for confused entrances and exits and animal sound effect doorbells added further to the hilarity. It's tricky, I don't want to give away too much plot - you really need to enjoy this production with a pleasant ignorance of what might come next - but expect a baddy to boo at, mistaken identities, love, silly hats, a Police tribute band....oh, and gold Lycra shorts!

My only regret with this show is that I haven't been to an Eastern Angles production sooner. There's so much in it that this is the kind of show that would stand up to repeat watching and I'm glad that when the run here in Ipswich is over the company moves on to Woodbridge for a fortnight in January. I can feel a birthday treat in store (hint hint!).

One final note - it's a very small theatre with the front row seated on the edges of the acting area and so the audience feels immediately involved, eye to eye with the players. Unfortunately during our performance a member of the audience was taken ill and her concerned family had to attend to her quite rapidly. The actors on stage were incredibly professional; sensing some difficulty they quickly brought the scene to a stop, the front of house team swung into action and with gentle caring and concern attended to the party affected. Once happy that the lady had made a comfortable exit and was safe hands everything resumed to rapturous and well deserved applause. It was all handled so incredibly well.

Lesley Rawlinson