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Review: Shakers at the Devonshire Park Theatre
THE EPONYMOUS Shakers is a cocktail bar – and this play probably divided the audience in the same way that sweet, fizzy drinks with a little pink umbrella can do.
Some would have loved the strong flavours, mixed with a bit of a sweary kick, others would have found it overly saccharine and possibly a bit too garish.
The four protagonists are Carol (Annemarie Hosell), Adele (Liz Carney), Mel (Claire Eden) and Nicky (Pippa Fulton), serving behind the bar, dealing with customers who think the staff are on the menu and, occasionally, clearing up the remains of a badly digested seafood pasta.
The ladies bitch, bicker and bond as the evening progresses, sharing their dreams and disasters with the audience.
Adele is struggling as a single mum and irritating her colleagues when she leaves work early to look after her child; Claire is frustrated by the whingeing waitresses and haunted by a past choice; Nicky is busy dreaming of being a dancer; and Carol is finding her degree, and talent as a photographer, is wasted behind the bar.
But the talented cast don't just play one character, they also pop up as cocky male customers, posh ones, common ones, and a group of, let's be charitable and use the word 'tipsy', youngsters out celebrating a friend's 21st birthday.
There is plenty of energy, enthusiasm and humour on show in this play, directed and written by John Godber (and co-written by Jane Thornton), but – like the cocktails – it's a bit of acquired taste for some.
Shakers is on until Saturday night, with evening performances at 7.45pm and a Saturday matinee at 2.30pm.
Tickets cost from 13.50-19.50, call 412000.
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Weather for Eastbourne
Monday 13 February 2012
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 2 C to 7 C
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