After much uproar in the daily media, Beaconsfield The Musical opened to packed houses for its short run during Fringe. Much of the concern was how the show would portray the miners and town of Beaconsfield but they needn’t have worried. It was a hilariously tongue in cheek look how ordinary people coped when an huge incident is thrust upon them along with ravenous outside forces from outside.
The scenes in the mine were a silly look at the monotony of being in a confined space which wasn’t bogged down in too much gallows humour. The townsfolk however weren’t shown in such a positive light as they were portrayed as opportunistic in a cute CWA manner. The real targets of the play were the media and certain political figures with their attempts at milking the situation for all it was worth. These characters were very much cartoon figures with every stereotype and fact, both rumoured and true, exploited to make the ridicule so much easier to digest. I was particularly impressed with the inclusion of references to other moments of infamy in these public figure’s lives to further mock them. Naomi Robson’s lizard companion played by a puppet was especially impressive.
There was plenty of deconstruction of the show itself with witty references to the recent controversy and the closing number that included the line “No one will care in 2008”. It made you wonder how much of it had been rewritten to both quell and capitalise on the outrage or were some of these sentiments in the original script. Aside from the title charge (it was now ”...in no particular key”) the edginess of the material seemed to have survived intact.
The cast of six worked wonders in utilising the tiny stage of The Butterfly Club. The constant retreating to the front row when an actor was not involved in the action gave the show a frenetic pace as everyone threw themselves into the multiple roles required of each performer. Dan Ilic, Kate McLennan, Toby Truslove and Amanda Buckley handled the many roles without the need for costuming and using the slightest change in gestures to bring the characters to life. Special mention goes to Robbie McGregor who chewed up the scenery with brilliant portrayals of the Narrator, David Mott and Richard Carlton. Pianist Nigel Ubrihien added the odd humourous comment as well as providing wacky backing vocals.
In addition to the live piano, recorded music and sound effects played a role in the show. The house music before and after the show were appropriate and humourous. The sound of dripping combined with the darkened stage transported us into the mine. Projected slides were also used to set some scenes but their positioning high above the stage (due to the size of the venue) diverted your view from the on stage action at times.
Beaconsfield was a brilliant show that had the audience howling at every line. It may have been self described as poorly rehearsed but this was one highly polished piece of musical theatre/comedy.
Visit the Fringe Website for booking details.