In an attempt to acquire an inheritance, Benny must take on another life and dignity-threatening task.
1 Comment
Tom Swift
on May 8, 2016 at 2:49 AM
Bernice Summerfield
Venus Mantrap
Having not read ‘Beige Planet Mars’ I have no idea who professor Scoblow is, what academic conference Bernice nearly turned into a nuclear war or exactly how Jason Kane’s erotic fiction business came about. That doesn’t matter however because the essentials are explained in such deliciously lurid detail, with such tantalising innuendo throughout, I almost wish every Bernice story was this… delicious.
With Peter sidetracked with his father for the majority of the play, Bernice is left alone to pursue some of Jason’s funds. The concept of money and other real life problems have been slowly raising their ugly head in the background of the last few plays and here they take centre stage, with cheap shots at politics, prostitution and the Inland Revenue on display. But the whole production is so gloriously tongue in cheek, right up to a gigantic speech at the end that is Cringeworthingly brilliant yet utterly deviant.
Jo Castleton and Luke Sorba should be commended for forming a very strong pair of characters for Bernice to navigate around, with a brilliant script to let their vocal talents shine. You could easily see both of these characters returning to the range at a later date, but unless the script sparkled as brilliantly as this it would undoubtedly be something of a disappointment.
To accompany them Ian Brooker plays a typical political idiot, but with just the right amount of menace in the correct places. Rounding out the cast is Sean Connolly, playing a suitably slimy tourist with a hidden agenda, and Alex Mallinson’s almost invisible presence as extra voices. All in all this is a very strong cast.
And they are rewarded with a script that constantly delights, poking fun and sexual innuendo but with just enough human drama to prevent it from falling into a farce. Bernice’s first romance since Jason’s death is well handled, and highly inventive. If I have any complaints it’s that the political outrage on Eros has no depth, the crowd changes from violent to placid without comment, however this isn’t about the larger picture it’s about a few special people who like war rockets just pass in the night.
I played this to a friend of mine with a taste for good comedy, and after a very quick introduction to the concept of the series (yes, it is complicated. SPOILERS: Bernice got pregnant with a dog-like alien when she was possessed by another alien, gave birth to the child and raised it with her husband, who used to have a career writing erotic fiction. Then her son killed her husband, after being manipulated by her boss who turns out to have been a closet psychopath with an obsession with her, secretly manipulating events to try and control her life. Now she and her son are on the run and broke… Phew, hope that covers everything…) and after that quick intro he loved almost everything he heard. In fact I don’t think more than two minutes passed without him laughing out loud. In fact, up until then he had admitted having doubts about the audio medium as a whole, so he wasn’t just a novice to Bernice Summerfield but the concept of Audio at all. Whether this will change his heathen way’s I’m not sure, but safe to say he was very impressed.
The story ends by tying up something that’s been going on in the background since ‘The Final Amendment’ and asks bluntly why more people haven’t noticed Bernice is an exact double of the president of Earth? It also ends on a cliff-hanger that leads directly into the Series finale ‘Secret Origins’. Can’t wait…
As I said earlier I’m not overly familiar with the early days of Bernice Summerfield’s solo adventures, and this is the most recent of several stories to hark back to those days. However as long as the references are handled like this, with only a brief amount of explanation for past events, that doesn’t look like it’ll be a problem. This isn’t just a spate of continuity references but a rich world to tell continuing stories in. All in all this isn’t a play that takes itself overly seriously, but if Lisa Bowerman didn’t have a ball recording it then she definitely is an amazing actor, because joy shines out of every crevice.
For the restaurant, elevator and speech scenes alone: 10/10
Bernice Summerfield
Venus Mantrap
Having not read ‘Beige Planet Mars’ I have no idea who professor Scoblow is, what academic conference Bernice nearly turned into a nuclear war or exactly how Jason Kane’s erotic fiction business came about. That doesn’t matter however because the essentials are explained in such deliciously lurid detail, with such tantalising innuendo throughout, I almost wish every Bernice story was this… delicious.
With Peter sidetracked with his father for the majority of the play, Bernice is left alone to pursue some of Jason’s funds. The concept of money and other real life problems have been slowly raising their ugly head in the background of the last few plays and here they take centre stage, with cheap shots at politics, prostitution and the Inland Revenue on display. But the whole production is so gloriously tongue in cheek, right up to a gigantic speech at the end that is Cringeworthingly brilliant yet utterly deviant.
Jo Castleton and Luke Sorba should be commended for forming a very strong pair of characters for Bernice to navigate around, with a brilliant script to let their vocal talents shine. You could easily see both of these characters returning to the range at a later date, but unless the script sparkled as brilliantly as this it would undoubtedly be something of a disappointment.
To accompany them Ian Brooker plays a typical political idiot, but with just the right amount of menace in the correct places. Rounding out the cast is Sean Connolly, playing a suitably slimy tourist with a hidden agenda, and Alex Mallinson’s almost invisible presence as extra voices. All in all this is a very strong cast.
And they are rewarded with a script that constantly delights, poking fun and sexual innuendo but with just enough human drama to prevent it from falling into a farce. Bernice’s first romance since Jason’s death is well handled, and highly inventive. If I have any complaints it’s that the political outrage on Eros has no depth, the crowd changes from violent to placid without comment, however this isn’t about the larger picture it’s about a few special people who like war rockets just pass in the night.
I played this to a friend of mine with a taste for good comedy, and after a very quick introduction to the concept of the series (yes, it is complicated. SPOILERS: Bernice got pregnant with a dog-like alien when she was possessed by another alien, gave birth to the child and raised it with her husband, who used to have a career writing erotic fiction. Then her son killed her husband, after being manipulated by her boss who turns out to have been a closet psychopath with an obsession with her, secretly manipulating events to try and control her life. Now she and her son are on the run and broke… Phew, hope that covers everything…) and after that quick intro he loved almost everything he heard. In fact I don’t think more than two minutes passed without him laughing out loud. In fact, up until then he had admitted having doubts about the audio medium as a whole, so he wasn’t just a novice to Bernice Summerfield but the concept of Audio at all. Whether this will change his heathen way’s I’m not sure, but safe to say he was very impressed.
The story ends by tying up something that’s been going on in the background since ‘The Final Amendment’ and asks bluntly why more people haven’t noticed Bernice is an exact double of the president of Earth? It also ends on a cliff-hanger that leads directly into the Series finale ‘Secret Origins’. Can’t wait…
As I said earlier I’m not overly familiar with the early days of Bernice Summerfield’s solo adventures, and this is the most recent of several stories to hark back to those days. However as long as the references are handled like this, with only a brief amount of explanation for past events, that doesn’t look like it’ll be a problem. This isn’t just a spate of continuity references but a rich world to tell continuing stories in. All in all this isn’t a play that takes itself overly seriously, but if Lisa Bowerman didn’t have a ball recording it then she definitely is an amazing actor, because joy shines out of every crevice.
For the restaurant, elevator and speech scenes alone: 10/10
Overall: 9 / 10