"Bullshot crash-lands into belly laughs"
Hawke's Bay Today Friday, November 11, 2011
Reviewed by Amanda Jackson
Despite the bumbling efforts of Hugh Bullshot Crummond, and the hopelessly silly behaviour of his love interest, good will prevail. There is nothing better than choreographed buffoonery and orchestrated idiocy when it comes together as tightly as it was intended.
Terry Coyle, director of Bullshot Crummond, has masterminded some of the funniest stage antics to be written and they work perfectly. The script is a continuous line of gags and it was fast and clear.
The show encapsulated the era beautifully, costumes and mannerisms, underplayed and overplayed, all came together for a really funny night, full of surprise and hilarity.
Great work on costumes and accessories gave the whole production an elegance which conflicted with the disastrous mess the characters created as they stumbled into the fray.
Excellent striking of poses by leading man Edward Carlton-Holmes and great sexy wickedness by Emma Walker highlighted the quality of acting and skill involved in what is intended to be so bad it is good.
It wasn't all about verbal gags and there Cefyn Gauden shone in his caricatures of various people, and the stage presence of Lindsey Bishop made him the perfect Otto.
There were no delivery subtleties and everyone played up to the maximum, as was required by the genre, and Lynne Goddard, Owen Potter and Michael Fleming swooned and goofed and blustered with finesse.
There are special lighting, sound and stage effects, all of which required managing and all of which were very funny and successful.
Particularly effective were the mid-stage projections of scene changes which meant the stage itself remained uncluttered and straightforward and which really did create a setting, with an element of tongue in cheek, for action taking place far and wide.
Literally from the first minute, the style is set, a bi-plane crashes on to the stage, villains are parachuted to safety and the plan unfolds. There is never a dull minute.
Bullshot Crummond is an audience winner and guaranteed to entertain.
