Cabin Fever

 “Cabin Fever” is a short play written by the comedian Jim Sweeney first performed at the Edinburgh fringe in 2006, however for this production there has been some updating from Ian Robinson, with the permission of the author. Set in a cabin on board a newly refurbished cruise ship called The Pegasus the play centres around Billy an old style non pc entertainer who has spent years entertaining passengers onboard cruise ships, it is the only life he has known for the past 30 years.

We first meet Billy walking back to his cabin looking extremely nervous and carrying a bottle of alcohol. In the cabin there is a large, covered object to one side of the stage. Billy talks to himself and the covered object for a while and has a few drinks. He than takes the cover off the object which turns out to be a young woman who is the new Cruise Director, she is sitting in a wheelchair with her wrist tied and has a gag around her mouth. Billy carries on chatting to her, and we then begin to realise by what he is saying that he has just found out his services are no longer needed so he is about to loose the only way of life he has known for the past thirty years, as the owners of the cruise line are introducing a more modern entertainment concept hoping to appeal to a younger generation of holidaymaker. He is devastated and his reaction to this news is to kidnap the Cruise Director, he tries to argue his case and celebrates the old style of entertainment and the dedication these entertainers have to their craft and profession and to the passengers over the years.

At first, I was a little bit confused because I thought I had come to see a comedy as the subject matter seemed rather serious but then suddenly I found myself laughing, Yes, I was watching a comedy but with undertones of a serious message about the treatment of employees and people who have given their life and dedication  to their profession and are then tossed aside without thought. Billy makes his case to the Cruise Director trying to persuade her that the old-style comedy is still relevant for the demographic of the cruise clientele, that it can work in harmony with more up to date entertainment. So, he puts on a performance to show her how his act works, and that his humour and jokes can still be relevant and enjoyed by the audience and how due to experience he can think on his feet to cover when unforeseen things happen as a standup comedian and compare’s job can be unpredictable.

Directed by Ian Robinson this was a very enjoyable one-hour piece of entertainment with two outstanding performances from both actors who also had very good comic timing.There was the very talented Steve Catterall as Billy, Steve has a large portion of the dialogue in the form of a monologue in the first part of the play, he was very convincing in this role, getting to the heart of the character, he was Billy. The Cruise Director played by Lauren Brogan-Brown was bemused by Billy’s reaction to her news and could only see the benefits of the new proposals. Lauren had very expressive facial expressions when waring the gag and was also very believable as the newly appointed Cruise Director. Both actors worked together and complemented each other excellently, with exceptionally good comedic timing during their dialogue together.

The performance took place in the Studio Theatre, which is an intimate venue, with a small stage, however the set builders, designers, painters, and properties, skilfully reproduced a cabin on a cruises ship even with portholes. Lighting and sound designed by Paul Carr added atmosphere to the production and performance as did Rachel Toner who did the music for “Let Me Entertain You” and Ian Robinson skilfully added to this by putting together some very enjoyable applicable music played at relevant times during the performance. Kath Townsend had responsibility for the Wardrobe which suited the characters very well. Stage Crew was Cas Jellicoe, Props, Ro Littlejohns, and the set builders and painters were Ian Bromley Maureen Strand and Kyle Whittle. Marketing was by Ian Robinson, the posters on the walls around the studio were a nice touch and I thought using members of CADOS as subjects on the posters was a novel idea.

Congratulations to Ian Robinson all the cast and crew including front of house for an excellent production and a very enjoyable evenings entertainment.

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