Standing Room Only
It was standing room only at the Jam Factory for the August show, and the players were ready!
Before the warm-up could begin, there was a small matter of getting some professional photos taken. The players arrived early enough in their best bib and tucker. And if you don’t know what that means, Google says:
One’s finest clothes, dressed up, as in the men were told to put on their best bib and tucker for the dinner dance. Although wearing either a bib (frill at the front of a man’s shirt) or a tucker (ornamental lace covering a woman’s neck and shoulders) is obsolete, the phrase survives.
In this case, it meant that the players had their Honest Liars tee on, their hair done, looking the part and no snotty noses.
The photos were taken amidst great hilarity, with the players falling about ….. literally! The images have yet to be viewed and passed before being made public, but watch out for any new banners.
An hour later, the students arrived. These fine players have nearly completed the Beginners’ workshop that has been held over the past few weeks. They were to do a ‘guest’ spot, and two games had been set for them to play within the show.
Warm-up began with basic games ideally suited to sharpening the brain and ramping up the energy. Then it was across to The Station for a drink and the last-minute preparations.
People began arriving, and it soon became clear that the house was going to be full. The troupe were not going to disappoint, and so the show started.
Scenes from a Hat was a great way to ‘introduce’ the players as they stepped forward to give small statements in response to suggestions that had been provided by the audience.
A couple more games then Pocket Note, a favourite had Kim, Melissa and Fee as gardeners spicing up their dialogue with suggestions from the audience from “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” to “hey babe, are you trashed I want to take you out”. Weaving these into the gardening scene proved to be both difficult and hilarious at the same time.
Time for the students to have a go on stage. The game some chose was Alphabet. A scene where friends were trying to organise a costume party. Each player had to begin their line with the next letter of the Alphabet which they did with only the odd hiccup of switching letters. All made for a good game.
Foreign Film Dub saw Fee and Kevin speaking in gibberish French meeting at the supermarket. At the same time, Kathy and Kim translated and took the story from the first meeting to the size of the aubergine and many more innuendoes which carried the scene along.
In the second half, the Honest Liars’ plant in the audience who was supposed to be keeping up with the photos (specifically for this blog) was laughing too much and forgot!!!
After intermission, Jon started the ball rolling with a rollicking great stand-up about his trials and tribulations going through the different customs in different countries. Then the games flowed on with the laughs abounding as the players brought their best scenes from the suggestions. Hollywood Director was set around a murder with Melissa and Kim trying to figure out what to do with the body when Kathy turned up as the nosey cop. Jon played the Director and changed the genre a couple of times making the scene a horror, sci-fi and rounding it up with it being a western which saw Kim kill off the nosey Sherriff.
The students had another spot playing the game Space Jump changing the original scene of a rock climber to a Tug of War, riding horses and a cat throwing up. Their creativity showed the advances they had made through coming to the workshops.
The final game, Press Conference, had Jon being grilled by the press because of the scandal that had occurred. Through the hints dropped by the journalists and Jon’s great responses, he soon realised that he was speaking on behalf of Fonterra over the issue of marketing mouse milk.
A rousing applause ended the show and players, students and some audience members wandered over to The Station for a celebratory drink to relax and unwind.
Thanks to all the players:
| Fee Melissa Kevin Kristina |
Jon Kim Kathy |
Thanks to the Students:
| Wendy Steve Wendy K Ryan Vicki |
Sue Lynn George Claudia |
Thanks to the crew:
| Sally | Neil |
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Next show is on September 6th so save the date!
Book your tickets, have a drink at The Station first, then join us for loads of laughs.
1st Sunday of every Month
Jam Factory, Historic Village
Show Starts: 7 p.m.
