By Sophie Glew
Starring David Schaal (The Office, The Inbetweeners), Harry Visinoni (Coronation Street), Sarah Moyle (BBC’s Doctors) and Jasmine Armfield (EastEnders), Jumping The Shark is a celebration of the sitcom and its place in our hearts.
About the show:
Comedy’s no laughing matter… “misleads”, “straight reverses”, “telegraphing”, “the rule of three”, “the law of C”, “jumping the shark”. These are the rules of comedy. You can’t just learn them. You have to live them. Five strangers gather in the conference room of a shabby hotel on the outskirts of Farnham. Despite character differences there is one thing that links Pam, Gavin, Morgan, Dale and Amy … To realise their dreams through comedy. Frank Donohue, the finest sitcom writer of his generation has flown in from Los Angeles to conduct a seminar teaching his five lucky disciples the tricks of the trade, and how to write the perfect sitcom. During the class, their everyday lives are exposed revealing mix ups, farcical revelations and gut wrenching tragedy.
Our review:
A good crowd was obvious on Tuesday night. The characters were diverse and their introductions to each other ranged from quite funny, slightly embarrassing to worrying for some of them.
The rest of the play brings in genuine comedy, pathos, drama and some shocks.
A slight problem with sound as we really had to concentrate to hear all the characters at one point.
It certainly has something to offer everyone. Definitely supports the British tradition that comedy is the very essence of us all.
The show runs from the 21st to the 25th February 2023. You can book tickets here: https://orchardtheatre.co.uk/Online/tickets-jumping-the-shark-dartford-2023
