Theatrical Interlude 13

Opportunity Knox, Blakeney Village Hall, August 2011.

This is a very, very different theatrical experience to the ones I've been having recently but one that I wouldn't miss for the world.

The Blakeney Players are an amateur dramatics group on the Norfolk Coast who put on 2 shows a year. Shows that they write themselves and that are full of songs and dances that play to the Players' strengths. Every show is side-splittingly funny (sometimes not intentionally), witty and always a pleasure to watch. As the director of this show put it - it is possible that the actors enjoy the shows more than the audiences!

This summer's play 'Opportunity Knox' sees a group of bank robbers travelling around Europe pretending to be competitors in the 'Europe's Got Talent' competition.
Their acts...
..that would be an ABBA Tribute act and a couple pretending to be a ventriloquist and his dummy (she's lost her passport so they pretend she's a mannequin to get through immigration at Dover - obviously)
Police in several countries are baffled and so who better to catch the criminals than Lady Penelope, Parker and the boys from International Rescue!
It was as surreal as it sounds (and gets worse by the end) but every detail was perfect, the acting very amusing and the 'special effects' incredible.

There were only 4 performances of this show and all of them were sold out. It deserved to be.

You can't compare something like this to the productions I am seeing in London but I look forward to each and every show that the Players put on as much as I do my trips to London - just in a slightly different way.

This is where I confess that I know one of the Players and perhaps this review isn't quite as impartial as perhaps some of my others are.
That not withstanding I urge anyone in Norfolk to keep and eye out for the dates of Players' winter show and to grab a ticket as soon as they go on sale!