Jive!
Jive! Jive!
- touring
Playwright & Director - Stuart Thomas
Design - Irene Harris
Company - Take Two Productions
Venue - seen Perth theatre toured Scotland
Dates - April - 27 May 2001
Performance lasts 2 hr 20 mins with interval.
Reviewer - Rachel Natanson
Stuart Thomas'
Jive! Jive! Jive! is a fun filled musical comedy following three
young adults as they find their feet in 1950's Glasgow. It mixes hits
of the period (sung live by the cast) with jokes in an almost slapstick
comedy kind of way, with more serious scenes depicting some of the important
issues facing the coming of age generation of the time. Although it
is not my regular sort of thing- I tend to avoid this sort of play,
it is very good at what it is: a comedy that had the audience (if not
myself) roaring with laughter, and with some sad scenes to balance the
whole thing out.
The play has its flaws: for a set that never really changes too much
throughout, apart from added bits here and there, there seem to be a
lot of drawn out scene changes. These are fine when there is singing
to distract, all too often the audience was left in darkness. The other
problem I had was that some of the acting was a bit over the top, but
it fits in well with the piece, and I think that it is more to do with
the style of the play rather than poor acting or writing.
Indeed, I enjoyed the play despite my misgivings, the three main characters,
Elsie Alyson Orr, Janice, Sandra McNeely, and Tony, Sandy
Nelson are all well cast and well played. There seemed to be a good
atmosphere on stage and a rapport between the actors. The singing was
especially enjoyable with all of the five cast members being strong
vocalists. All in all, I had a good evening in Perth, and Jive! Jive!
Jive! is a fine play. It's not the piece to go to for anything serious
or thought provoking, but for an evening of fun and entertainment it
stands proudly.
© Rachel Natanson 17 April 2001