“Catch 22” is the latest TG performance to reach a stage near YOU this year. It chronicles the trials and tribulations of Captain John Yossarian as his attempts to leave active combat duty in WWII are foiled by the self-fulfilling “Catch 22”; for a man to be allowed to leave combat missions, he must be insane. However, to ask to leave combat missions proves a man’s sanity – as only an insane man would fly combat missions with such dangers surrounding them.
The play pokes fun at the extensive bureaucratic nature of the American government during war, whilst also combining well some very funny moments and some genuinely sad ones. One scene, involving Major Major (Patrick Haste) and his assistant, Sergeant Towser (Leodora Darlington) discussing when people were allowed into his office (when he wasn’t in) was very reminiscent of the guard scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail!
Live forever or die trying
Bret Ware plays the lead, Captain Yossarian, very well, without putting a foot out of place, encapsulating well the incredulity of the power of “Catch 22″. Sam Dobson, who played “the Texan”, gave a powerful performance as the patriotic and outgoing CID Officer. The generic WWII military desert uniforms meant the actors had to put more effort into portraying each character and making them stand out, but this didn’t prove an issue as it was easy to follow and understand the personalities of each individual character.
Some parts of the production were confusing, such as the faked death of Doctor Daneeka (Will Kynaston), which perhaps could have been made easier to understand through the use of narration, but nevertheless a quick read of the synopsis of the book should clear up any confusion.
Despite the subject matter being the bureaucracy of government, this production has laughs throughout and is certainly worth going to watch.
“Catch 22″ is performing tonight and tomorrow at 7.30pm in the Annex Theatre, with a 2pm matinée tomorrow. With tickets at only £6.50 for students or £5 with a Performing Arts card you can’t really go wrong. You can purchase them from the box office.
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Can I just say that, although the play itself was fantastic and very well produced (thus completely deserving of this review), there was a feeling throughout that friends of the cast took the play as a huge in-joke, and this put a downer on the experience for myself and many people who had come to watch the play for the performance, rather than seeing their friends in silly outfits throwing tomatoes.
It felt like the audience was split – every time a few cast members appeared on stage or a small joke was made a group of people (who were all PA members) laughed really loudly and banged on the desks, completely oblivious to the other half of the room grumpily turning around to look at where all the noise was coming from.
Like I understand why, but it would have been nice for them to consider the fact that most of the people there were trying to enjoy the play.
Maybe next time PA should organise a special show so everyone can just get it out of their systems first?
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Catch 22 starring Joe Hart’s obnoxiously loud laugh.
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Depends upon which night you went as well. Did the play openly refer jokes to members of PA or identify specific members of the audience to exploit and cause laughter? If not then I can’t really say it’s very in-jokey. I believe if you went on the Saturday you’re bound to catch friends and family of the performers within the audience, and considering this is an amateur dramatics community I don’t find much of a problem with members of the audience enjoying and laughing at their friends on stage. Such in-joke laughter from the audience wouldn’t happen every night, and even on a professional stage there’s still moments of isolated, in-joke laughter from a section of the audience (See a Shakespeare comedy at the Globe and people are all over the place laughing!).
I see your problem and understand it completely, and there have been moments in the past where PA members have been disruptive for silly reasons while enjoying the show. It is only right for members to retain some air of professionalism while in the audience, it’s obvious, don’t disrupt the show or the audience through silly or obnoxious actions. However, I believe we don’t need a complete air of professionalism here. If friends and family identify an actor on stage and particularly laugh at them, who’s going to stop them doing that?
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It is a fantastic point though and shouldn’t just be left here Alfie.
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Its a comedy, people laugh.
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