Summary
On stage, everyone can hear you scream. Which is kind of the point, right? A delightful and unabashed love letter to bus drivers, theatre lovers and, of course, Ridley Scott’s most famous film.
When you think about Alien, chances are pretty good that a West End stage production isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. Yet it was for this crew of bus drivers in Dorset, whose handmade show unexpectedly made its way to London.
In a culture where the charity pantomime is almost untouchable, this very amateur troupe of British actors decides to do something a little different. They spend month putting together a stage version of Ridley Scott’s 1979 classic, right down to the dialogue. To their surprise, it doesn’t do very well with local audiences, but they get a second shot at fame when they are invited to perform it for one night only in London’s West End theatre district.
With almost zero budget but a lot of passion, we watch as their director — who often looks as though he is herding cats — pulls the ragtag group together and keep them motivated for the duration. Necessity proves to be the mother of invention as bike helmets, foam and fishing wire stand recreate some of the film’s iconic effects with surprisingly effective results.
The sheer audacity of trying to stage one of the greatest sci-fi films of all time on a community theatre budget is enough to warrant a look. The beauty of this documentary is that they are never laughing at the players, although it’s never clear whether or not they are in on the joke when the West End audiences often do just that. Or, as one punter puts it, it might just be “the right piece of art being met by the right audience.”
As a documentary, Danielle Kummer and Lucy Harvey’s piece is a fairly no frills affair. Yet the fly on the wall approach allows us to get incredibly close to this group of people. Think of a Christopher Guest mockumentary, but one where you genuinely care about what happens to each of them. Where it really succeeds is in the last act, where we get to see large chunks of the show live. The audience reactions are priceless, but not as rewarding as seeing the elation of the crew when they’ve accomplished their goals.
More than anything, it’s got a big beating heart in the place where Kane used to have a chest. It’s the kind of film where you want them to succeed so very much, but secretly want it to all unravel. The fact that they’ve done repeat performances and have this very documentary made about them is probably of indicative of which way this delightful doco heads. Now all we need is Prometheus on Stage.
2020 | UK | DIRECTOR: Danielle Kummer and Lucy Harvey | CINEMATOGRAPHER: Danielle Kummer | CAST: Jason Hill, Lydia Hayward, Jacqui Roe | DISTRIBUTOR: SUFF 2021 | RUNNING TIME: 86 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 9 September – 26 September 2021 (Sydney Underground Film Festival 2021)
