REVIEW:
22 Short Plays
BY DAVID FINNIGAN
KEITH GOW, JUNE 2011
It is tempting to write 22 short reviews about David Finnigan’s 22 short plays, since I loved some, hated others and was wildly entertained by most. But it’s the rapid fire collection of 22 concentrated bits of comedy that make this another MKA show worth seeing.
Short play seasons and festivals have sprung up all over the place, but presenting a collection from one playwright is almost a fresh idea – particularly a collection like this, which presumably was conceived as a piece in its entirety. How/where else would Finnigan expect the shortest of his short pieces to ever be staged?
In fact, there’s only a few pieces I would hesitate to actually call plays. Mostly they are sketches and in some cases they feel like acted out jokes. But when they are this entertaining, why not? From the satirical Communist Anthem to the parodic Dune. From a bit about Medusa’s daughter in Quarter Snake to Sitcom x3 – which is about creating a sitcom that people you don’t want watching will actually watch… and I actually wanted to watch it!
Three cast members, Connor Gallacher, Paul Blenheim and Ellen Grimshaw bring a lot of energy and enthusiasm to their many, many parts. I think Grimshaw almost stole the show a couple of times – particularly as a lusty, thrusty teenage boy in Friction, but as is inherent in a night like this, even the best actors have the show stolen back from them by another piece coming along.
22 Short Plays lasts just over an hour. It’s uneven, but perhaps that’s just the nature of a collection like this. Director Tobias Manderson-Galvin keeps everything moving, so even when one play doesn’t work, the next one comes along and hip-and-shoulders its way on stage and the crowd is laughing again.