A Whole Lot of Bother: A whole lot of fun

CONSTANCE CHAPMAN has a whale of a time at the Footlights Spring Revue, and this time they’ve gone old school.

ADC Comedy Footlights mainshow Spring Revue

The show was classy from start to finish as the audience entered to the sounds of a suited jazz band and a stage framed by luscious red curtains worthy of the oscars. The Footlights and gone for an old school theme for the ‘impatient’ modern audience, involving silent movie clips throughout the show which broke up the live sketches. The unusual move paid off, largely due to the quality of the filming and the use of the live band to cover slick scene changes.

The comedy itself was also of the highest quality and the audience were laughing consistently. Tom Fraser, Joshan Chana, Ellen Robertson, Oliver Taylor, Archie Henderson, Adrian Gray and Seb Sutcliffe all bounded onto the stage with plentiful energy but special mention must go to Luke Sumner who was definitely the stand out performer of the night. From his first sketch as the ex-auctioneer barista he had the audience in the palm of his hand and kept them onside throughout. His ability to play a huge range of differing characters with originality and flair was a huge factor in keeping the energy of the show high and preventing it from becoming repetitive.

Luke Sumner stole the show

Oliver Taylor also put in a strong performance, as ever, falling back once again on the fact that he is a medic to delight the audience in a sketch about the art of questioning a patient. He will make a fantastic, if not slightly unorthodox GP one day, I’m sure. He also played a very good murderous priest in a sketch which was a running theme throughout the show. I enjoyed the over arching themes and stories which gave the show more cohesion than you would find in your average smoker.

Some of the best moments of the show were when the whole cast were on stage together. They are all talented performers and the musical numbers went down a storm, especially the mariachi band in the lift. They team work well together and their chemistry shone through in moments of improvisation when the occasional lighting cue went awry.

Old school and classy, just the way we like it

On that note, the lighting and sound were both of a very high standard. Cues were generally well timed, sound effects aptly employed and lighting well focused. There were many opportunities for the tech to go wrong, especially considering the fast pace which the actors maintained throughout, so it was highly impressive that the crew, led by TD Ronit Wineman, carried the whole show off with barely a glitch.

Diverse, witty, clever and classy, A Whole Lot of Bother is well worth a watch. Tickets may be pricey but I can promise that you get a lot of laughter for your money.

70%, first class fun.