ONE FOR ALL AT PLYMOUTH’S DRUM THEATRE THIS XMAS
Back for their third Christmas show this year is the unique Barbershopera Company – a comedy quartet featuring three guys and a girl who have been entertaining audiences since 2007 with their award-winning work. As with their previous two shows in The Drum, “Toni and the Guys” and “Apocalypse Noel”, their latest work, “The Three Musketeers,” retains the original, simple premise: three guys and a girl singing a fully formed acappella musical with a comedy twist . . . only this time they have swords!!! With her village under threat of destruction at the hands of the villainous Cardinal RichTea, young Nicole D’Artagnan must disguise herself as a man and head to Paris to join the famous King’s Musketeers. As you can imagine, various trials and tribulations plague the progress of our heroine, and her new-found trio of friends, as they battle corruption, femme fatales and the cultural confusions brought on by a quest to England.
247 spoke to Pete Sorel-Cameron about returning to Plymouth and the company’s excursion into the 17th Century asking what this show had to offer for a young audience. I think the comedy in “The Three Musketeers” is something that will appeal to anyone who’s ever laughed at Monty Python or Blackadder. There’s also a touch of The Mighty Boosh in there as well so I think anyone in the audience will find something to laugh at.
And the humour is based on all sorts of modern themes…despite the 17th Century setting? That’s right, it really gives us chance to play with some preconceptions and turn them on their head. The show deals with all manner of out-dated attitudes – such a homophobia and sexism. In fact, that’s always been at the heart of all of our shows really…the girl coming along into a mix of guys and very quickly showing them how much more able she is…despite their preconceptions. It provides some food for thought as well as hopefully a load of laughs.
Fantastic…so fans of the previous two shows will find similarities?
Oh yes, although because this show is based upon the book then the plot follows a storyline a bit more strictly than we have done before. As a result, there are more characters for the four of us to play so expect some quick changes between roles and there are also more hats, lots more hats!!!
Sounds fun, and would it be giving anything away to ask if the show results in a good old fashioned Christmas sing song? In the same way as the previous two shows do you mean? Well, I wouldn’t like to spoil anything but lets just say fans of Christmas pop classics won’t be disappointed.
Barbershopera: The Three Musketeers is running until 23rd December 2012 at The Drum, Plymouth book tickets at www.theatreroyal.com
Words: Alan Butler
