| Madcap mayhem, debauchery, lust and mistaken
identity, all this and more! The play is set
in 'Floaters Leisure Centre' just prior to
an inspection by the local senior councillor,
Mr Pantalone. Isabella, the Centre's Manageress,
is in a flap; however her dysfunctional staff
are not perturbed in the slightest, add a
good measure of lunacy to this theatrical
pot of non-sense and you have all the ingredients
for a crazy rollercoaster ride that builds
and builds into an insane, ludicrous, climax
that would not be amiss within the walls of
Bedlam!
In this play, the endeavour has been to
capture the spirit of the Commedia del'Arte
wherever possible. The script for 'Flumes
and Fumes' (and also that for 'Slap
and Tickle') was initially improvised,
the ideas generated were then gradually
honed, coerced, nurtured and thrust kicking
and screaming into their finished state.
The story line is very firmly rooted in
the tradition of knockabout, ribald, slapstick
humour, and contains numerous sexual references.
It is probably not suitable for actors or
audiences below the age of 15.
The staging area is very loosely based
upon a 'Booth Theatre' concept, which would
have been very familiar to the Commedia
players of old.
From the beginning, it was never an intention
to wear masks as in the original Commedia
del'Arte, but rather use the basic Commedia
style as a concept to link modern comedy
with the past. Hopefully this has been successful
and therefore elements of 'Black Adder',
'Fawlty Towers', 'Bottom' and 'Friends'
can be plainly discerned, jostling beside
the stock characters that make up the fascinating
world of Commedia.
|
