Devil in Drag Review

Before I start this review I feel as if I should give credit where credit is due, The entire cast managed to pull together and deliver a quality performance even though they were not afforded some of the props and costumes they were supposed to be allocated for their performance.if any of my comments are due to this then I apologise. Nevertheless I will try my best to not over look and of the factors that made The Devil in drag performance good/bad.

Before the performance even started we were greeted at the door by guards who had to check us before were to enter the performing space. This gave a great illusion and get me excited for thing things to come. There clever improvisation of the actors was great, the way in which they created comedy by sending people to the back of the line or telling someone to take off their belt really made the characters shine through. The first section of the play was simply to introduce us to the actors who would playing some of the parts. This was apparently all improvised. This gave a feeling of freshness to the performance and made us as an audience feel like we were seeing something for the first time. However some individuals were out shone by their fellow players which meant they had to work especially hard to win my focus during their introduction which was a shame.

There was a lack of stage chemistry between most of the cast, This meant that some of the lines that were supposed to be funny felt forced and gave me as an audience member a cringe worthy feeling. For example I feel to improve they could have put more effort into creating relationships between their character's. Most of the weak spots came from either unclear status or relationships. Which character held authority in the room? I couldn't tell which meant the balance of power was all off. However there was some very nice moments where one of the actors would assert themselves meaning that the rest of the company had to change and adapt to this new comedy that was being inputed showing that there was some form of unity within the piece.

One of the shining moments of the play was when Brinley could not get one of his prop breasts to inflate so he ingeniously came up with a one liner about it which made the crowd go wild! I didn't actually know it was improvised until after the show. This showed poise and skill and I was very impressed with this. Another improvised moment of hilarity was the ending scene. The actors invited the audience up on stage to dance and just leave us feeling good. This was clever because it made the show look better than it already was.

Some general notes I would give to the actors were to just keep the transitions tight and not let the pace of the piece stutter as it sometimes felt like an up hill struggle. Otherwise it was a very nice play but maybe it wasn't the best choice as it needed more technical skills and staging to make a truly wonderful production.