Young and Hungry 2007 / A Thomas LaHood Review

To say this is a strong year for Young and Hungry would be to damn it with faint praise: Y & H 2007 is the best theatre I've seen all year. It's a must-see! Well, two of the three shows are at least, and since a season pass is equal to the cost of two shows, you'd be crazy not to make a whole night of it.

The Life, Death and Afterlife of Felix Unfortunate kicks off the programme at 6.30. It's the greenest of the three shows on offer, but is by no means unworthy of attention. The script comes from 18 year old Zoe Deverick and draws heavily on The Matrix in its tale of a young man resisting the powers of conformity. It's somewhat convoluted, and short on subtext, but nonetheless contains some striking twists, such as the title character's father (Suli Moa) who lives a secret life as a party-pill-popping clubber.

The story starts at a dining room birthday party and by the end has become a full-blown fantasy epic with soul-eating zombies and trans-dimensional double agents. It's an ambitious scale to bring to the stage, and a lot of potentially interesting material falls through the cracks. Mr. Hazel the mudman, for example, is a bit of a non-entity, despite a brave performance by John Grant-Mackie in brown unitard. His entire race has been exterminated by the sinister underworld baddie 'The Official' (Chris Tse, playing the villain with relish) but he exhibits little emotion, his dialogue instead lapsing into ideological angst.

Chris Neels, in the title role, has presence onstage but is miscast as soul-searcher Felix, not quite convincing with his metaphysical monologues. There are some strong supporting performances: George Harach in particular brings a lively energy and endearing openness to the mercurial Manny, and Catherine Peleti plays the vacuous Michelle almost too convincingly. But aside from a nicely judged sequence where Felix attempts to fake interest in the TV rugby match to win his father's affection, the onstage chemistry is rather stilted throughout.

Fortunately, the show is not delivered in deadly earnest. L'hibou Hornung's direction keeps the action moving and there is plenty of lighthearted entertainment value on offer, intentional or otherwise. The costumes and staging in the zombie-ridden underworld third act are particularly funny. In all, despite biting off a little more than it can chew, Felix Unfortunate is an engaging, original work.

Fitz Bunny: Lust for Glory, starting at 8pm, is an absolute rip-snorter. Penned by long-time Wellington cartoonist Grant Buist, this is a full-scale musical packed with satire and great comedy, and in the hands of director James Hadley it flies from start to finish. This is the show nobody thought could happen - a parochial comedy that is actually funny, and in fact on opening night had the audience laughing, hooting, cheering and hollering throughout.

The cast is simply stellar, performing both the musical numbers and the pacy comedy with flawless aplomb. The ensemble is professional to a fault, never once dropping the ball nor stealing the focus from one another, and playing through a kaleidoscope of characters ranging from talking sheep and hedgehogs through to the Prime Minister and leader of the Opposition.

Willow Newey shines in the title role as Fitz, a spunky 2ft-tall pink bunny rabbit with totalitarian tendencies. She makes the role her own with unwavering confidence and sass and a powerful set of lungs. Newey is infectious and convincingly punk-rock, and when she sings the climactic solo 'I'm Awesome', there's not a soul in the audience who could disagree.

Playing the journalist Alex, Jessica Manins is an excellent foil to Newey's raw energy. It's the least interesting role, but Manins gives a measured performance that holds the show together. Dominic Taffs is adorable as bureaucratic hedgehog Enderby, eliciting a huge "Awwwww" from the audience on several occasions. Elliot Travers juggles roles effortlessly, turning in a winning John Key impersonation and a great comedic turn as an American Army General.

The 'Rabettes', played by Gemma Boyle, Laura Velvin and Nikita Tu Bryant are impressive in chorus. They work beautifully together, understanding very well the dynamic importance of working (not to mention singing) in harmony and supporting the main action on the stage rather than distracting from it. Their 'baaaing' dialogue as idiotic sheep is great vocal work, and they all relish their moments outside the chorus as bit players.

The musical numbers are fun and many, and the cartoon-y design of the set (Paula Curry with help from Buist), props and costume (Fiona Brown) give this production a slick, professional edge that mean it would not look out of place on, say, a Downstage programme. The finest, funniest, most original show I've seen in years.

The Henchman, at 9.30, closes the programme with a punch... actually with a lot of punches, kicks, headbutts, lunges and laser-gun shootings. Eight characters, all male, take to the stage in a boys' own comedy of superheroes and supervillains. It's a bold, funny script by Dean Hewison that is very skillfully realised on stage by director Rachel More.

From the second the lights come up Henchman is all action, as lead character Adam (Patrick Powdrell) slams into the doorway, swearing loudly into his mobile phone. The pace of the story is phenomenal, no plodding dialogue to wade through, and within two short scenes Adam has accepted a job as a henchman for an evil supervillian called Double Cross, played by a deliciously deranged William McElwee.

Powdrell is a great choice for the role of Adam. He's confident and handsome, strong and supple, and he plays the part without reserve, displaying convincing emotional range despite the comic-book nature of the story. McElwee's Double Cross is disarming from the get-go, he barks his deliveries with a manic conviction. When he sings to himself after disposing of superhero Christian Hammer (Jordan van Irsel), it's at once convincing, unnerving and very funny.

In fact, the entire cast turn in tight, confident performances that wring out every drop of comic value from the juicy script. Jack Sergent-Shadbolt is the epitome of droll in the laconic role of Greg the gay flatmate, and shows off some great physical comedy stylings as Greg's alter-ego Limberman. Leon Wadham is delightful as the tweaked-up Captain Caffeine, leaping around the stage like a cat on amphetamines.

The others have slighter roles but bring no less skill to bear on them, even Allan Henry in the tiny bit part of Ollie makes his one or two lines of dialogue worthwhile. However, he also choreographed the awesome, extended fight sequence that is Adam's job interview, so he has no reason to feel underutilised.

The set, conceived by Susannah Aitken, is simple and versatile, allowing the focus to remain entirely on the action as it unfolds. The lighting design of Oscar Mulheron is similarly stark but also very effective. A laughing supervillain silhouetted on a cross of white light is a graphic image, but here it is done skillfully enough not to be tacky. And in the costumes Gemma Crouch-Gatehouse has also risked tackiness to come up with simple, iconic designs that suit the characters perfectly.

Like Fitz Bunny, Henchman is unashamedly lowbrow, but consummately performed. Young and old audiences alike should get along and see how much fun theatre can really be.

ENDS

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