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Augustus Does His Bit (WWW.MERLYN.BIZ)

Local theatre troupe Merlyn Productions presents George Bernard Shaw¹s Augustus Does His Bit at the beautiful Ellice Theatre. The audience really enjoyed it, though I¹m curious if the Master Playwright Festival¹s audience is interested in anything created in the last half century, as the jokes in Shaw¹s satire of wartime bureaucrats are as predictable as the MPF choosing a male playwright to feature.

It¹s not just that the gags are lame and the sound effects are reminiscent of a Œ30s radio play, but the entire one-act builds up to a very obvious and terribly un-funny climax. Lord Augustus Highcastle is a 45-year-old colonel played by Mitch Krohn (who couldn¹t be more than 30) given the sole task of keeping a weapons list from a female spy - naturally he¹s a buffoon who goes out of his way to screw it up. He¹s joined on stage for the first half of the 50 minute show by Tim Beaudry¹s Clerk and the last half by Elizabeth Whitbread¹s Lady - neither of which are terribly strong. Beaudry appears to be pushing 70 (playing 57) and when he¹s not saying his lines with a gravelly, Red Green delivery, he¹s shuffling his feet across the stage, drowning out Shaw¹s dialogue. All three of them deliver their lines in an incredibly acty manner, and whether they're avoiding British accents or attempting them is uncertain.

The show opened with a sweet (yet cardboard) introduction from director John Chase, presenting Shaw¹s original intro from the play. It sets a nice tone, but is a bit of an indulgent reminder that we're in the theatre, which takes the audience out of the moment before allowing them to even be in it.

One thing I will give Merlyn Productions, it knows its audience. People were wiping away tears at the jokes, gasping and commenting at the plot twists and thoroughly enjoying every minute. Quality of the jokes aside, the cast should have either gone much bigger or played it completely straight, instead of sagging somewhere in the middle.