The Stage

Grub’s Up!

Published Thursday 11 October 2007 at 14:15 by Thom Dibdin

Food, glorious food, draws the young - six to nine-year-old - audience into this nicely pitched story of an arrogant chef and her gifted brother. The kipper ties and plate-of-food hats they make before the performance already give them a costume, of sorts, and Moley Campbell’s bright audience-surrounding set ensures that everyone really is a part of the action as diners at Drizella Coulis’ brand spanking new restaurant.

With Laura Cameron Lewis as Drizella, David Topliff as brother, Spud, and Nikki Auld as hoity-toity food critic Aroma Divine, there is no doubt about the quality of the performances. All three do exceptionally well to bring the audience into the actual performance, although the decision to focus quite so much on clowning and slapstick in the first quarter of the show does not help overly.

Once a bit of narrative is established, however, the whole production begins to show its potential. There is still an imbalance, and a clear need for a strong directorial hand from Phyllis Steel and Elly Goodman, but the meandering storytelling style still works very well.

Auld is particularly strong, engaging the exacting audience and convincing them with her costume changes. Topliff is an endearing clown, likeable enough to make his success obvious. Cameron Lewis could afford to be a touch more nasty, although her code-switching use of accent is something that is instinctively understood.

Brilliantly conceived and created props by Lynda Gray and Rachel Mimiec, with charming songs from Marion Christie, round off a production that is packed with potential.