This evening's debut Maltings Arts Theatre Mostly Comedy was an enjoyable way to kick off our St Albans dates.
My prevailing
post-gig thought is it felt like a perfect fit. The auditorium is extremely
comfortable to work in, and perhaps the most focused space where we’ve presented the
club, with the Market Theatre or Leicester Square Theatre at a very close
second-and-third place. While there are lots of positives about the Sun, the biggest stumbling block is how easy it is for the audience’s
focus to be lost, particularly when the performer isn’t a well-known one with
an instantly recognisable rhythm. It’s a vast, high-ceilinged room with a tiny
stage in the midst of a wide wall, with so much potential for distraction. Our
techie Paul does an excellent job of lighting it to make the best of what we’ve
got, but despite the definite improvement since we first started
there, it’s still lacks the cohesion to be a great performance space.
Theatre’s where
the performers work 'on the flat' - like the Maltings is - often feel a little
weak and anticlimactic, but the set-up here is just right.
There’s a sense you have nothing to work against, which is always a bonus,
particularly when trying new ideas (which I did about ten minutes-worth
tonight). You’re not fighting for attention, plus the room’s just the right
size for a good reaction to spread; tonight’s gig was about half-full, but it
didn’t feel like it. Both Arthur Smith and Barry From Watford went down a
storm, and Glyn’s and my stuff went well too. It was a very promising start,
with just the right line-up. It makes me excited about the two remaining dates
we’ve currently confirmed (the second of which with Reginald D Hunter and
Hattie Hayridge is selling rapidly). The only negative I see is that performing
comedy in such a nice space makes me wish we can transfer all the best bits to
the Sun too; that’s nothing against the Sun as a venue, but when it’s pitched
against a well-equipped theatre, it can’t compete.