Review

Spaghetti Western; Cork Arts Theatre : The combination of a large cast, a tiny theatre and a hot summer's evening promises a…

Spaghetti Western; Cork Arts Theatre: The combination of a large cast, a tiny theatre and a hot summer's evening promises a discomfort that might be relieved only by an effective production.

Unfortunately, Spaghetti Western is not it, especially as the invitation to bring your drinks into the auditorium is a further source of physical unease.

But perhaps Ian Wild wants his burlesque of a wandering Italian opera company marooned in an American town ruled by a rooster to be enjoyed in as loose and accommodating an atmosphere as possible; even Davy Dummigan's clever stage can't impose perspective on what is revealed, fairly quickly, as a village-hall spoof in which everyone is eventually turned into pasta. They must have had great fun in rehearsal, but the plot remains a private - if very loud and very long - joke.

Directed by Belinda Wilde in manic mode for Janus Theatre Company in association with Kinsale Further Education Centre, it prompts a question about the Woodford Bourne Cork Midsummer Festival's criteria for programme contributors: with the exception of two juvenile roles, the cast is on the centre's theatre performance course - a course, incidentally, that seems to give little attention to vocal technique.

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Mary Leland

Mary Leland is a contributor to The Irish Times specialising in culture