Five troupers, already known for certain skills – e.g. writing, acting, improvising, producing – now take on other roles as well, to co-create this amusing hour of sketch comedy. Each has written a piece and directed another and all play roles throughout.

As Luke Hawker, in cartoon prison garb, hangs from wall-mounted shackles, Dean Hewison kicks off, in his role as Scott, with creatively devised house-keeping announcements.

Simon Smith climbs in through a barred window to start the first sketch: Prisoners, written by himself and directed by Hewison. Jessica Mannins and Bex Joyce play tough-cookie prison guards. Well structured with good twists that distil the central premise, it reveals an unjust world of compulsive winners and losers.

Cheesecake (the trilogy), by Hewison and directed by Mannins, finds Hewison’s Scott behind the bar, dealing with a ‘fish-out-of-water’ youth (Hawker) whose great moment of fame was to be the kid in a K Fry TV ad. This will escalate dramatically, and comically, between the sketches that follow although its (lack of) resolution is a bit messy.

The Joyce-penned Monkeys, directed by Smith, takes what I take to be a live cam feed from backstage, using toys, cut-outs and models to create a zoo environment with which Hewison, on stage, interacts. Lots of fun with topical gags it becomes hijacked (intentionally) by deviation and falls apart, ending with a good visual twist.

Mannin’s Speed-Dating sketch, directed by Hawker and involving everyone in multiple fast-change roles, gets more and more bizarre, to the point where a rejected status quo looks attractive again.

Hawker’s Rats, a parody of Cats (although the tunes come from other musicals) features a mishmash of accents and looks either undercooked script-wise or under-rehearsed on opening night. But they bring it together for a big finish that provokes a healthy round of applause.

Overall the scripts fall short of capturing universal truths, exposing the human condition or leaving us with something to think about. It’s more an opportunity to watch five theatre enthusiasts stretching themselves and having a romp in the process.
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