Two goodies to one baddie is an interesting dynamic to power the truck-load of bright possibilities set up by The Court’s current main stage set. Its range of blank panels, able to be backlit for shadow effects or projected onto for all sorts of others, serves the imaginations of director Bain and his creative team handsomely. 

There is a jolly sense of wacky technological stuff from the outset, when the house lights dim and a stern disembodied voice gives us the usual warning about audience behaviour. It is repeated several times, each attempt muddling the components, culminating in the instruction to “turn off children”. 

We are in a museum after closing time, witnessing the sophisticated security sensor system manifesting as a sensitive doggy presence, but foiled nevertheless by an arch robber, Frederick the Great. He is of course after Jewels and at this stage quite unstoppable. 

However, at the house of the Darfield Museum’s security officer, intrepid and sensible Molly is gearing her very sleepy dad up for the day in a series of determined moves and accompanied by her trusty Dolly. Even so Dad leaves the house for guard duty without his vital plans, so that Molly has to follow him. Thus it is that Dolly falls into the merciless clutches of Frederick the Great and becomes a hostage. 

Dad, on Security duty, has set up ingenious traps (images on those screens again) and eventually the villain is caught, Dolly is restored and the lesson about telling your parents everything before things escalate into really tricky territory is reinforced. 

The screens are a source of lots of fun. Apart from sizzling lasers (on the floor and other places as well), they serve for projections of ingenious burglar traps electric zapping, wind turbine turmoil and boiling water deluge. Molly has the wherewithal to deal with them as she needs to though: gumboots, hairdryer and umbrella. Ideas are flowing freely and have the potential for a cool contemporary heroine tale. 

The cast operates with the over the top clarity such goings on call for. Jared Corbin is the dastardly crook, adept at changing face in an instant. Molly is played at full throttle by Rebekah Head, whose energy infuses much of the show and as the loveably gormless dad, Ben Freeth is consistently inventive.

For me though, a sluggish pace threatens to overwhelm all these positive aspects. The waking up of Dad seems laboured and even the business with Dolly lacks urgency. We are so used to fast-moving plots and audience participation, chases and physical excitement, that the impact of this less vigorous piece seems compromised. It has to be said that the audience around me gave no hint of dissatisfaction though, and at one stage, early on, when the robber has been thrown out and reappears with a banana stuck on his head, they are spontaneously vocal.

Clever ideas then, some terrific technical support and very capable actors, but overall a sedate take on a promising provocation.  

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