Sh*t-Faced Showtime-Oliver With A Twist

Sh*t-Faced Showtime – Oliver With A Twist has a simple premise. They put on the well known show, Oliver (although with other musical theatre numbers thrown in for good measure), while a member of the cast performs drunk! The cast member is rotated and they drink for 4 hours prior to the show. At our performance Oliver Twist herself had consumed around half a bottle of gin prior to the show. She was also topped up during the show to make sure she didn’t sober up.

The premise is set up pre-show by our narrator, Katy Baker. She is also on hand to make sure that the drunk doesn’t sober up and mop up any alcohol that may get spilt. I would have liked to see the narrator to take a more active role. At times the comedy became stagnant so it would have been a good opportunity for her to intervene to move the action along.

The production of Oliver Twist itself is purposely set out to be a budget production. The story is crammed into under 1 hour and are also serenade with versions of ‘I Dreamed A Dream, ‘Getting to Know You’ and ‘Wouldn’t It Be Lovely.’ It’s an odd mix but it does keep the audience guessing. A particular highlight for me was Bill Sykes dog….I won’t give the gag away but moments like this were glimmers of comedy not stemming from the drink.

Most of  the comedy in the show arises both from the drunk cast member but equally the reaction of the 4 remaining cast members. Some moments were genuinely funny with Oliver taking moments to sit down on stage during numbers or find moments to stretch. However when the ‘drinker’ leaves the stage for a prolonged period of time the comedy is gone and we are subjected to a mediocre version of Oliver Twist.

Even moments of the drinking felt contrived. It feels as if Oliver, played by Issy Wroe Wright was maybe tipsy but far from Sh*t-Faced and that much of the drunken antics had been pre-scripted. Audience members are given the opportunity to make Wroe Wright drink but even when they take up this opportunity the lager remains untouched. It felt like a pointless gimmick and just drew to the audience attention that Wroe Wright may not be quite as inebriated that she wanted us to think.

Sh*t-Faced Showtime is a fun way to pass an hour, perhaps pre-dinner or heading to a bar but if heading to this for the main event of the night you might be wanting more….a bit like Oliver himself.

If you like this review you might also like my review of Showstopper!, Six and Rocky Horror Show.

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