From the start it was clear that this show was going to be a very professional one. The actors came on stage, poised and ready for their parts, most of which they performed admirably. In fairly small venues like this one, microphones were an immediate annoyance to me, but the cleverly-hidden band were playing quite loudly – too loudly if the cast had not been fitted with microphones.
The music and singing fit well into this professional category; all of the cast could hold harmonies and had highly competent voices. The same could be said of the acting; the company were very adept at portraying the characters they were given with conviction and honesty.
However, this is where the main downfall of this play enters the scene. The script, and, most specifically, the dialogue, is remarkably sub par. It suffers from being circuitous and mundane, which in turn meant that as an audience, we never fully identified with the characters because, script-wise, they were never fleshed out. This is a shame because the actors had the necessary talent to truly engage the audience with their characters. There were some issues with diction, even with the microphones, but in the end these problems were outweighed by the talent of the actors. Of particular note are the two Bunting brothers, played by Gregory Hazel and Paul Rich, who have a wonderful dynamic. Their song, “I’m Just a Whiskey Drinker”, was, for me, the highlight of the production.
The majority of the cast are of West End or Broadway standard but the script is just too obvious, mundane, and not well enough crafted. This is a shame because it caused me not to enjoy the show as much as I could have, although it was still a very good production. Also, it does cause me some small uncertainty as to whether having a West End cast is really applicable to the spirit of the Fringe stage. Newland is a good show, with great songs, and superb actors but a final script edit would not go amiss.
