Last year Nottingham New Theatre were awarded a Hairline Highlight for Slipping On Skin. We wouldn’t have been surprised if they hadn’t managed to maintain quite the same standard, but we didn’t expect such a fall from grace.
Admittedly The Case of the Blue Oyster Gang delivers exactly what it promises – a Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid style spoof PI story – but it could have been done so much better.
While the dance scenes are well choreographed and executed, a number of the characters are overplayed and unbelievable and the humour is simply just offensive. This would be excusable if it was in keeping with the characters, but their crude and tasteless wisecracks seem to be tacked on purely for shock value.
It’s sad to see such a wonderful company slip to this level, but that’s show business. They do have another show on this year, so don’t discount them yet, and with some judicious editing and rewriting this could also be an enjoyable show. However, as it is it is The Case of the Blue Oyster Gang is simply crass and overlong.
2/5
Richard Biggs
