THANK YOU FOR BEING A FRIEND

When you put together five very talented actors, four of whom have acquired the unique skill of manipulating puppets to perfectly reflect the speech, movements and mannerisms of well-known television characters, and add witty dialogue which rises at times to being belly-achingly funny, you have good entertainment.

The play, written by Thomas Duncan-Watt and Jonathan Worsley,and well directed by Neil Gooding and Luke Joslin, is quite openly built around the award winning television  series, “The Golden Girls”.

Each of the four puppet characters mimics one of the cast of that long running show and, it must be said, for those without a background knowledge of that series, the play will lose some of its sparkle. For those “in the know”, however, the combination of puppetry backed up by the actions and facial expressions of the actors holding the puppets, provides a heady mix of fun and nostalgia.

The production is, frankly, just long enough. A set which never changes and the ever- present four characters, plus a story line which is really quite mundane, would not permit a longer performance. Foregoing the interruption of an interval was wise.

Great and memorable theatre it is not, but if you want to have a good night out, and you have at least a passing familiarity with “The Golden Girls”–go and see this show.

THANK YOU FOR BEING A FRIEND is playing at the Seymour Centre until February 27.