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The Island Lano & Woodley Royalty Theatre Until Sun 7 Mar When I spoke to Lano and Woodley a couple of weeks ago, they explained that their newest show revolved around an elaborate revolving hydraulic staircase they had named ÒJecksÓ. I had wondered exactly how this thing worked, and more importantly, how could they work such a contraption into a story set on a desert island? The answer was simple: stick some fake palm fronds on top and it becomes a palm tree. Jecks also became many other things, including a gallows, a courtroom dock, a jet, and funnily enough, a staircase. Remarkable and imaginative use of this set piece was one of the highlights of 'The Island' for me. The show is based on a straight forward premise: the boys pack for a holiday, the plane crashes, and then we find Col accused of Frank's murder on the desert island. Only by flashing back to the island will we make sense of what happened. Or will we? Of course the story is merely an excuse for a lot of joking about and physical comedy. They even tried the Òwith fronds like these, who needs anemones? joke. With slapstick, singing, dirty jokes and all, I'm a little surprised there were no fart jokes. Maybe it had something to do with Colin's claim that they were trying to do a ÒsophisticatedÓ show for the audience. Particularly funny was Frank's use of a computerised judge, and Colin running around with a chook attached to his pants. Insert obvious joke here. The plot allowed a fair bit of room for improvisation, but there appeared to be few moments of true spontaneity. Although at one point Frank's briefcase caught fire, and I'm not sure if this was intentional or not. In all, I came to watch a show from a couple of this country's finest physical comedians, and they delivered. |
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