Highway to Hell

Saturday 03 February - By Aislinn McSharry for The Student

Huw Turnbull’s hysterical murder-mystery-farce ‘Highway to Hell’, left Bedlam Theatre shaking with roars of laughter, heads nodding along to the 1979 soundtrack and audiences overcome with a palpable sense of what theatre’s all about: uniting audiences in a shared story-telling experience, and, in this case, extravaganza.

Set on the tour bus of infamous rockstar Vinnie Rotten, without signal or sanity, the story unfolds around the discovery of his death and the subsequent search for his murderer. Ridiculously entertaining performances from Bedlam’s famous faces, with each character charismatically encompassing a different, vivid shade of chaos, brought Turnbull’s brilliantly funny script to life. Turnbull himself starred as ‘Tony B. Driver’, the seeming traffic police officer turned bus driver, an immensely novel and absolutely hilarious character to watch unfold. Lauren Green’s unique and skilful direction successfully rinsed the script of every laugh-out-loud moment (of which there were many). Her collaboration with the actors and tech team alike created a perfect marriage of all theatrical art forms. The seriously-silly dance numbers – scored to hits of 1979 – were complemented, and only made more ludicrous by the bold-coloured, disco lighting by tech manager Leon Lee, and executed by the strange and fabulous dancing of the cast members.

Green’s direction homed in on creating an intensely funny dynamic between the central figures: every mannerism and slight interaction between Gordon Stackhouse’s ‘Fred Leach’ and Minnie Cross’s ‘Maxy Jazz’ was a myriad of madness and perpetrated ripples of laughter throughout the theatre. Stackhouse’s striking performance was particularly engaging; his wonderfully expressive facial features and masterful use of voice (never has the word ‘absurd’ sounded so hilariously absurd ever before) commanded and demanded attention, opening the play with such immediate pizzazz. His uninhibited guise allowed for complimentary counters with other cast members, much like Ruth Maley’s cool, calm and collected ‘Roxy O’Donnell’, the band’s bassist.

Whilst not debating the more serious matters of life, Turnbull’s play is entertainment in its purest sense and was thoroughly enjoyable. This immensely successful collaboration can only leave one in anticipation for what Turnbull, Green, and the whole cast and crew, decide to share with Bedlam next, and as an audience member, I hope to see this level of theatrical prowess on display again soon.