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Salient. Victoria University of Wellington Student's Newspaper. Volume 31, Number 9. May 21 1968

Pallid Imitation Of Past Glories

page 10

Pallid Imitation Of Past Glories

Extrav 68 was rather a hit and miss affair, some of the skits—especially those involving less than three people—were very good, while others were hideous.

Somehow whenever more than three people were on the stage at the same time the whole show went wrong. Even the singing which on several occasions involved the whole cast had difficulty leaping over the orchestra (?) pit on the night I saw the show.

The dancing appeared as a shallow imitation of that of past years. I personally find the constant repetition of the same steps to be rather tedious.

Extrav 68 began with a plea for national pride and this monologue avoided becoming painful only because of Philip Brew's skilled delivery. The second skit was one of the highlights of the show; it consisted of Roger Hall giving a witty impersonation of our dear Prime Minister writing to God about matters of defence.

One of the dance scenes that was too lengthy.

One of the dance scenes that was too lengthy.

The next highlight was the Pete and Dud episode with David Smith and Philip Brew. This skit derived its laughs rather more from the level performance than the mediocre script. The Time for Sherry sketch began well with Clive Thorpe, collapsed rather dismally during the Orlando episode, and was saved at the end by David Smith who was singing this time.

The next laugh came again with the appearance of David Smith, this time in his LBJ State of the Union speech. (Question: why wasn't he used in the recent Macbird reading?). The dancers came next and stayed too long. The nicest thing that can be said about them was that they were followed by Roger Hall as Bob Charles. I think this sketch was the highlight of the show for me. Mr Hall in a clever piece of mime managed to epitomize all my thoughts about those seemingly interminable TV golf shows.

And so, to Part Two, the Magical Mystery Tour spoof on Australia and New Zealand relations. This was very well staged and the producer should be congratulated on his skilled use of all the stage. The sets were attractive and quickly changed. The cast was dominated by Clive Thorpe and Philip Brew—the former as Captain Cook and the latter as Bernard Fergusson (Question: why wasn't Sir Arthur P in this sketch, hasn't he developed an image yet?).

The marching team was funny, some of the lines were funny, on the whole it was enjoyable.

One of the things about Extrav 68 that irritated was the use of different actors to satirize the same people in different sketches. Consistent casting would have given the show a continuity it lacked.

As is obvious from the review I wasn't exactly entranced by Extrav 68 but I did think the performances of Roger Hall and David Smith were excellent—indeed without them. I hate to think what might have happened to the show. The other two outstanding members of the cast were Philip Brew and Clive Thorpe both of whom have considerable presence on stage. Among the women only Helen McGrath stands out and she more for the consistent nature of her overacting rather than anything else.

Roger Hall, producer of Extrav 68

Roger Hall, producer of Extrav 68

—Bob Lord.