Following on from the similarly-vibed
“Find Me” (with which Pepper’s Ghost previously hit our stages last time
around), “Too Much Punch For Judy” is a straightforward, Community Theatre /
TIE piece about the events leading up to and following on from a drink-driving
fatality in 1983. It’s definitely worth saluting the company’s willingness to mix their
performances of the more “classic” theatre (Churchill, Pinter, and the upcoming
Beckett) with this kind of educational drama, even though I must freely admit it’s not my cup of tea.
Still, as always, the performances were
top-notch, particularly the Natasha Ellis-Sue Whyte mother-daughter combo, and
the supporting characters are all brought vividly to life too. A few technical problems
on the night I saw it failed to distract, in fact the actors managed to keep
our attention very well despite them. I always like the use of projection, and
TMPFJ (if I can abbreviate!) employed this to good effect., vividly and colourfully.
The piece itself
is drawn from real-life interviews that the writer (Mark Wheeller)
himself
conducted, so there's plenty of personal engagement with what the
characters
are saying, and the kind of air of realism you usually get with TIE.
The community-minded PC who has to break the news is a particularly
sympathetic figure (imagine having to tell a mother one of her
daughters is
dead and the other is seriously injured - shiver), as is the bloke first on the scene of
the crash - even listening to his monologue, one of the best moments in
dramatic terms, you start to think "what would I have done?would I have done that myself?"
While ultimately
it was a little TOO straightforward a production for my poncy effete palate, it was
still an engaging show, and very well received by the audience. There were
truly some heart-breaking moments of tension, and it was definitely an
improvement on "Find Me", which I found had less to interest me
dramatically. Pepper's Ghost always manage to bring compelling performances out
of their company, and TMPFJ was no exception. I look forward, as always, to
which direction they'll choose next, whether it's up my alley or not!
