Popcorn

Popcorn. Subiaco, WA.

Another slick and witty production from Blak Yak.
I've caught several of their shows in the past couple of years, and have been particularly impressed by the technical tricks. Time and again they get imaginative and adventurous with, back projections, front projections, TV screen segments, and sounds (or gunshots), and always seem to nail the timing of these extras. For most of us in AmDram, it seems that the moment one departs from basic lights'n'actors that's when it goes wrong!
Not so for the Blak Yakkers. In "Popcorn", TV screens are used again very effectively. Applause for the Bio-boxers.

There's lots of enthusiastic acting going on here. I'd single out Chris Thomas for consistant believability. With the exceptions of Chris and Eddie Stowers, I must say to almost all the younger castmembers "Beware of accent taking precedence over the words". Of course I am getting a bit old and my ears are not as sharp as they once were, but I failed to catch words time and time again, which is a pity. Knowing Ben Elton's sense of humour, I'm sure he deserves every single word or phrase to be heard clearly.

Energy, timing, characterisation; it's all happening. I want the full script too. I wish you a very successful continuance in the coming week.

Saw this production and what a thought provoking ending.
I was very impressed with Nisha Rivett and Fiona Bruce who retained their accents and characters right throughout, for a first timer, Erin Gray gave a convincing performance.
Anthony Harwood, in a very different role to the last show I saw him in (Pageant) was tremendous as Wayne. Although in some places when he was speaking very fast some of the words were difficult to understand, he also retained his accent and rather nasty character.
On the other hand, unlike Jonno, I found Chris Thomas lacking in his character and unfortunately in the 2nd act he lost his accent almost entirely.
The set is simple yet effective and overall I felt the production was excellent and it certainly got the message across. Well done to all the cast, accents are difficult to master but I felt that this show, with the exception of 1 or 2 cast members, handled them very well, and really it's the overall effect that is important - not just the accents. If the Characterisation is right - you usually have a successful show.

I think you'll find Chris Thomas wasn't doing an accent at all; he was just using his normal voice, at the request of the director - or so I'm told.

Greg Jones garnered:

> I think you'll find Chris Thomas wasn't doing an accent at all; he was just using his normal voice, at the request of the director - or so I'm told.

Hmm.. Chris Thomas does not HAVE a normal voice- it's sultry and smooth, with the slightest hint of vanilla-infused chocolate.

Those who saw him as Cat in the Red Dward sagas will know what I mean...

El

I saw Popcorn last night, and tend to agree with the above comments. A fast moving show that the audience really appreciated. The script is classic Ben Elton, a story that I think was better represented in Oliver Stone's 'Natural Born Killers', but here milked for lots of snappy one-liners.

The show was no less impressive for the fact that director Melissa Merchant stood in for the role of Scout, due to the original castmember being ill. The substitution seemed seamless, as if she'd done it all along. (Although it became a bit surreal to see her also on the TV as a reporter).
The TV effects were generally well done; the 'Pulp Fiction'-esque cameos at the start were fun but the sound could have been much clearer. Was that a REAL Oscar award?

I thought the live TV coverage in the second act was a little bit odd, being shot from so far in the corner. When Bruce went right up to talk directly into the camera, he disappeared - from my view and from the TV screen - because he stood out of the light. Wayne got a laugh for moving the Oscar award toward the camera when it was mentioned, but it couldn't actually be seen on screen. The effect of having the characters so far away on a weird angle made it NOT seem like television.
I'd have preferred to see a much tighter midshot for their debate, rather than trying to keep everyone on screen in one fixed frame. Camera movement would have been acceptable, given it was a live feed, and there would have been better value in having the poor camera operator more in the scene, following the action, rather than hiding in the shadows.

The blood and violence effects were great, as was Nisha Rivett's 'audition' for Bruce...in a show that's so dependent on the themes of sex and violence, it was important to get those right. In fact everyone was suitably cast and played a good part...at first I thought Anthony Harwood too young-looking and didn't have the strength of status to convince me as Wayne, but as it progressed I realised that this was perfectly feasible...just think of the students responsible for Columbine Highschool. No less frightening, all you need is a gun.

On the subject of accents: yes, sometimes I failed to catch words because of clarity, but more importantly, sometimes I failed to catch THOUGHTS for the same reason.
Too often when you take on an accent, you lose the ability to say a line in a way that conveys a truthful thought and meaning...you end up just saying it in a way that SOUNDS good, but comes across as false. Especially some of the one-liners, they can come across as merely lines, not justified thoughts...anger is really easy in an American accent, but any shades of subtlety within that just don't ring true. And that's when I really notice slipping accents...actors who play genuine emotions often lose their accent in the process, so it can become a bit of an unfortunate compromise, which often jars with the listener. But hey, I find this difficult to achieve as well. Just an observation.

An interesting epilogue, Elton trying to be poignant and witty and tie up all his loose ends while still being funny...there was an interesting theatricality imposed on it all by having the dead characters talk to the audience...maybe it would have been in keeping with the media theme to have done that to camera as well, with still shots and voiceovers? After the pace of events, especially in the second half, it seems a little abrupt. But I guess that's the point. Your life can change in an instant.

I happened to get the last available ticket on Wednesday, and soon after that the rest of the season booked out. Having said that, there were one or two empty seats last night, so if you're keen and have good timing you can always hope for cancellations!

Good job. All the best with it.

Cheers
Craig

Fine, but not nearly enough dwarf action.