Unicorn Theatre, Tue 20th - Sat 24th November 2007

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Ed Blagrove November 23, 2007

The Studio Theatre Club are a delight to watch. It is unquestionable that they are all absolutely loving it!

Briggs is, of course, the star of the show with a part practically written for him, but big praise must go to the director and the cast in general! Matthew Kirk was flamboyantly impressive as Cosmo Lavish and I thoroughly enjoyed Gurauv Kemar in both his guises - as the classic Indian shop floor foreman and then later in green attire as Igor! Nina Banks was delightful as Adora Dearheart and I enjoyed Julie Pearson's Topsy!

All power to the STC elbow! I thoroughly enjoyed myself!

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Deirdre Ruane November 21, 2007

It's hard to make economics funny. They don't call it the dismal science for nothing. Terry Pratchett just about managed it with his book Making Money. The Studio Theatre Club, with Stephen Briggs' new dramatisation of the book, succeed intermittently – though to be fair it is a daunting task. The play, which had its world première on Tuesday night at Abingdon's Unicorn Theatre, follows ex-conman Moist von Lipwig as he is hired by Lord Vetinari, the Machiavellian ruler of Ankh-Morpork, to overhaul the city's banking system. He swiftly finds himself a pawn of the scheming Lavish family, who want control of the bank, and the reluctant owner of an extremely wealthy little dog who happens to be the Chairman.

The first half was exposition-heavy, though it did assume a certain amount of knowledge of the books. For me it was hampered by the aforementioned fact that it's harder than usual to make a performance sparkle when your lines involve the principles of economics, even Discworld economics. Moist's early scenes at the bank and the introduction of the main characters seemed to happen in quite a dry, stilted way. However, after the interval it all kicked off. Whether it was because the cast had relaxed into the new script, or just because all the exposition was out of the way and the characters had been established enough to make way for amusing plot complications, the second half was much faster-paced and generally much more fun.

Briggs is brilliant as Vetinari, conveying his bone-dry wit and razor-sharp mind to perfection. Also worthy of note were Matthew Kirk, as the unscrupulous and increasingly unhinged Cosmo Lavish, and Nina Banks' adventuress Adora Belle Dearheart, with the icy poise of a 40s movie star, complete with emphatic smoking. Nigel Tait, as clerk Mr Bent, pulled off the impressive feat of playing a character clearly meant to be the dullest, driest man alive with panache and a wonderfully silly walk. Though somewhat heavy going at first, given a little time and patience, this play will amply repay your investment.

I thought it was great! In particular the portrayal of Peggy (the dog feeder) by the precocious Potter left me wondering whether I’d seen the next ‘Dench’. Keep up the good work.

Bernard Righton 22 Nov 2007

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