So, there’s this DVD store in Hell run by a Demon called Colin (Dan Vient), who once spent some time in Palmerston North and now paces his patch clutching a baseball bat because his main job is to dispense eternal pain and suffering, not that he’s very focused on that.

His long-suffering junior manger is a summer hols work experience human called Marty (Joseph Moore, a co-writer of this work), who has to contend with such horrors as noodles in the till. An Angel called Felix (Nic Sampson, the other co-writer) is supposed to be there on work exchange but he’s more inclined to make a mess.

The love interest is Laura (Rachel Keir-Smith) from the Deep Freeze: The Coolest Bar in Hell. Marty is deeply attracted to her but the bad Angel Felix boy is more attractive to Laura, so anguish ensues …

(Caoilinn Hughes’ review details other plot elements so I won’t reiterate them here.)

Maybe it’s festival burnout, but as the mostly well-performed comedy business carries on – Sampson is especially good with his timing, Moore makes an excellent foil, Keir-Smith is good in the relatively straight role, Vient struts well but resorts too often to shouting – I find myself asking "what’s the point?"

If the idea is to characterise Hell in the modern day for Gen Y – e.g. having no money to hire a DVD (the fate of the formless tormented souls); having nothing but till-tainted noodles to feed one’s hunger; suffering the pain of the one you love falling for the guy you thought was your mate – well, it’s a bit tame really. Isn’t it?

There’s a hackneyed melodrama twist in the tale regarding Laura’s parentage but as far as I can see it fails to serve as a resolution because it solves no problem had been raised in the first place.

The Hughes review lists cult movies and TV shows The Burn may be influenced by, and if a recognition factor on that score is crucial to ‘getting’ this show, I have to confess I am in the wrong demographic.  

It may be relevant to note there is no director credit and both writers are in there playing major roles. If all they wanted to create was a hook to hang their comedic skills upon, they’ve done it: they can show off accordingly. But for my time and money (and the audiences’) an hour-plus show needs to add up to something bigger than itself, otherwise its just a list of actions.

A director with dramaturgical skills may be able to locate a potential in this work and bring it to fruition while bringing better focus, staging, pacing and characterisation to some roles and moments.

As it stands, when it’s over, that’s it. Beyond recalling this or that quite funny bit, we are left with little to take away. Maybe that’s not important to the target audience but it seems a shame to me, given how much talent and effort has gone into making the show.
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Set in ‘Colin’s Rentals’ DVD store in Hell, The Burn is a tightly-scripted, hysterically-depicted comic drama. Created by Nic Sampson & Joseph Moore, this is a slap-your-knees, laugh-out-very-loud show.

When the house lights dim on this Joint Ventures & Joint Repairs production, the stage is suddenly overrun with human sac embodiments of the ‘tortured souls’ of hell. The ‘poor souls’ are desperate to hire the DVDs, which have been eternally condemned to hell, but don’t have any money to do so.

The play’s characters spend their time running after un-catchable ice-cream trucks, contemplating eating noodles stored in cash registers, petting decapitated cats, playing one-player versions of ‘Guess Who’, and generally being tortured in unimaginable ways.

One would wonder why Marty from Otaki (played unassumingly by Joseph Moore) – a quintessential film student – chooses a DVD store in hell for a summer job. Perhaps it is the brilliant company of an Angel from Heaven on work exchange that keeps Marty around. Nic Sampson, playing the Angel Felix, could probably keep God in Hell for all his comic ability.

Nonetheless, when we see Marty, at ‘Deep Freeze: the coolest bar in hell’, blush upon meeting the barmaid Laura (played by Rachel Keir-Smith), it becomes clear why he’s sticking around. But Laura has her own ideas and soon succumbs to Felix’s cajoling. Marty is devastated. Laura is weak at the knees. Felix is horny. Colin is bored.

However, when Colin’s DVD collection goes missing and the ‘deeply satisfying film’ that Felix brought with him from heaven gets out among the tortured souls, Hell freezes over. This has devastating effects on the characters: Colin (played with the stylish elegance of Eddie Izzard and the disdain of The Mighty Boosh by Dan Veint) begins to reflect on how he has spent his demonic life – he regrets never having kicked a dog in the face; Laura sees Felix for the cheesy American indoor netball-playing Angel that he is; and Marty is out of a job and a girl.

This comedy blends clownery, characterization and sharp, witty dialogue beautifully. Influences as diverse as The Mighty Boosh, The Clerks, Outrageous Fortune, Extras and CSI are evident; yet the script is original through and through. The final show is tomorrow night (Saturday, May 8th) at the Basement [then it plays Bats, Wellington, 119-23 May]. If you miss it, watch this space, as this crew is bound for success.
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