Review: The Co-op, White Bear Theatre, Kennington - fun, if sometimes clunky comedy
16/01/2020
Make It Beautiful Theatre's first production, The Co-op, is about three actors who have set up their own acting agency.
They spend their day, drinking and trying to get auditions for each other, being supportive and barely hiding jealousy and rivalry.
But a crisis is looming for the agency and it isn't just that Caza is skint.
The narrative thread is more of a vehicle for a series of sketches that are part homage to famous films and different genres and part gentle satire on the fickleness of the acting industry and audition process.
Don't look for too much coherence and consistency in the story because there isn't much.
Plenty of amusement
If you push that to one side there are some laugh out loud moments and plenty of amusement along the way.
I particularly enjoyed the avant-garde approach to a Hamlet audition and there were some great 'fight' scenes.
There is fun inventiveness to this work which bodes well for the future albeit if the randomness can be tone down.
Danger of in-jokes
When actors do a play about acting there is always a danger of in-jokes, only to be fully enjoyed by fellow actors and some in the audience were laughing raucously which did make me wonder if I was missing something.
While The Co-op is a little disjointed, it is nonetheless amusing and fun and I'm giving it ⭐️⭐️⭐️.
It's 60 minutes and is at the White Bear until the 25 January (excluding the 19 & 20).
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