Presented by Wings2Fly Theatre
Reviewed 11 January 2019
Anyone who has auditioned for a play or musical will relate to Bad Auditions by Bad Actors, and probably to characters on both sides of the audition table! The pressure of being put on the spot to perform can bring out both the best and worst in people, but can also have hilarious results as we are shown here.
Wings2Fly Theatre has put together a very talented young cast who give life to this play by Ian McWethy. Directors Michelle Nightingale and Alicia Zorkovic have ensured that the young cast makes the most of this opportunity, giving each of the 16 actors a chance to shine. The set is very simple with hardly any props used, drawing the attention to the actors, which works perfectly. The costumes are also simply outfits that several of these actors have probably provided themselves, with the exception of a few unique costume choices from some of the more eccentric auditionees – nod to Anna Baker for the design.
Leading the audition day are Claire and Ryan, who throughout the show encounter some very unique individuals! Lauren Jones is perfect as Claire, who manages to keep her cool despite the challenges given to her. Jones has the most dialogue to remember and didn’t seem to miss a beat. Byron Jeffery was equally impressive as Ryan, who tries his very best to assist Claire in finding the perfect ‘Romeo and Juliet’ for their play. Jeffrey ensures that Ryan is a likable character and has excellent comic timing, providing many of the laughs from the audience.
Several of the younger cast members play more than one character during the two acts, all proving a range of different personalities and talents as hopefuls trying to score one of the two lead roles. As well as playing auditionees, there are acting coaches, agents and even a criminal on the run! Mention must go to Joshua Elford who was both charming and hilarious as his two characters Martin and Darcy, Ashlee Scott who had the audience in fits of laughter as Jemma & Uma, and finally Zachary Baseby who played a very charming but disturbed young man called Taggart.
It was great to see a young cast who loved doing a play like this really shine on stage. It’s certainly a shame there are only two performances of this production (both on the same day)! They should all be incredibly proud of what they have achieved, as should Nightingale and Zorkovic. I look forward to seeing future productions from Wings2Fly Theatre, and from several of these young performers.
Reviewed by Daniel Knowles
Season Ended
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