Contributed
The cast of 'Pupalick'.

Fantastic. Brilliant opening energy through to the next three sequences was what I saw as I watched Aston Cooke's newest musical satirical revue Pupalick.

I had the privilege of experiencing this laughter-filled production a week into playing after its opening at The Pantry.

Dahlia Harris's versatility; Chris Daley's emotional interpretation; Zandriann Maye's personality convictions; Chris McFarlane's engaging presence; along with Everaldo Creary's witty caricatures made the evening delightful.

Cooke's wittingly crafted script leaves no room for misinterpretation of society's ills, woes and varying moods.

The most poignant skits were 'Gangsta's Mercy', 'MP' (a pun on mad people) and 'Remember When'.

The sequential structure was a little clumsy in terms of allowing the audience to find enough room for analysis (but who says that the regular viewer goes to do that?).

Depicting Jamaican attitude

Michael Nicholson handles imagery and spacing well, although I would have preferred a little less movement in some of the renditions to facilitate stronger message delivery. I would also love to see improvements in the contouring of lines delivered in group dialogue, so that a wider spectrum of the colloquial Jamaican attitude may be depicted.

I am not sure if Cooke realises how adept he is at using language figuratively, but it works beautifully in creating comedy, which is essentially the overriding essence of the piece.

The costumes brought truth to the scenes in an economical way and so too is the set equally economical.

Grub Cooper's music is at its usual best - a true genius.

Kudos to Cooke and his team for providing such a splendid theatrical experience. Pupalick will sell off!

- Reviewed by Robert 'Bobby' Clarke