I first saw Point and Shoot at Fringe World 2014 where it
won two major awards including $10,000 to assist touring the production
interstate and overseas. It was subsequently performed in Brisbane, Melbourne
and Sydney towards the end of that year garnering more awards and praise with an encore
season at Perth’s Fringe this year. As the team prepare to take the show to the
Brighton Fringe Festival in the UK they announced 4 final shows in WA – two in Perth
and another two in Busselton to raise money to assist with costs or, as one
declared at the end of Saturday’s performance, so they can afford to eat while
on tour!
It would be fair to say that after witnessing the show for a
second time that it is my favourite piece of original content generated
out of Perth (in all formats) for quite some time. I revisited the brief review
I wrote back in February 2014 and this still holds true:
“This is a hilarious and pointed satire of Hollywood and the
filmmaking business with a clever plot ("twist") and biting lyrics.
The four actors play multiple roles and instruments and all are in fine voice.
The transitions are seamless and this rockets along at a frenetic pace.”
What struck me on Saturday night though is that after touring
the show and making tweaks here and there it is such a tightly constructed and
slickly performed production. The writing (Book and Lyrics by Tyler Jacob
Jones) is clever and witty which has fast become the Jones trademark as witnessed
by his subsequent play F**k Decaf and work on Skin Deep which debuted at Fringe
this year. It is also a wonderful synthesis of a love and understanding of both
movies and musical theatre. A passion shared by Robert Woods who wrote the
music and crafted the filmed excerpts for the fictional 1961 sitcom Selma
Saves The Day and its bombastic, over-the-top 2042 feature incarnation.
This is the mischievous conceit of the whole undertaking –
inverting the current Hollywood paradigm to posit a world in 2042 where the
Independents rule the roost in the name of ART and the blockbuster of
yesteryear is in disgrace after every single property was plundered for
entertainment. All except the obscure, one season show where Selma, her
meatloaf, and trusty pet canine literally save the day. In steps the
granddaughter of its original creator who comes to Hollywood with dreams of
bringing Selma to the big screen. What follows is so furiously entertaining and
funny with twists galore that you are swept up in the sheer audacity and
inventiveness of it all. The script none-too-subtly lampoons the state of cliché
ridden filmmaking but also betrays an intimate understanding of genre and how
to subvert it.
This in itself is impressive but the kicker is in the
execution. Four actors playing over fifty characters with rapid fire character
transitions AND playing multiple instruments during the course of the story
with musical motifs cleverly used throughout. It’s a dizzying display of
talent, chemistry between the performers, and tight direction and choreography.
All four – Jones, Woods, Tamara Woolrych and Erin Hutchinson inhabit different
personas so distinctly with such diversity across their multiple roles that it
truly showcases triple threat ability – singing, acting, and musicianship. This
isn’t used as a gimmick but rather as a meticulously crafted and wildly inventive
presentation of the story.
Jones is ever the showman as the screenwriter who dreams of
bringing the movies of his childhood back to the big screen. Woods has a manic
intensity as the hobo who portends cinematic doom. Woolrych is both ditzy
newcomer and knowing femme fatale while Hutchinson is the desperately lovelorn
secretary who will sacrifice everything for her unrequited love. But they are so
many more iterations including their parts in the filmed footage. It’s simply a
dazzling fusion of writing, performance, direction and music.
An added bonus was that as part of their fundraising drive an original cast recording was available for sale on CD. The standout song for
me – Absolute Perfection – so beautifully sung by Woolrych will no doubt be stuck
in my head for days to come. It was also no surprise to see so many local
filmmakers in the audience with even a brief discussion afterwards about how
you would go about adapting Point and Shoot for the screen. For art, of course!
All that’s left to say is that I wish the four performers
and their support team all the best for their UK performances. I have no doubt
the show will be a hit and deservedly so.
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