Hot? Or Imperial Hot?

In the year 2000, the American Film institute named Some Like It Hot the greatest American comedy film of all time. At the time of its release, it won three Golden Globes and an Academy Award. It is surely a huge undertaking, then, to successfully bring a story with such pedigree to the stage. This is the challenge that ICSM Drama have set themselves this term, and from what I’ve seen, they have indeed been phenomenally successful.

For those who have seen neither the film nor stage adaptation,_ Some Like It Hot_ begins in 1929, where two musicians in a speakeasy witness the Saint Valentine’s Day massacre. Struggling to make money by finding work elsewhere, they disguise themselves as women in order to be part of an all female musical act and along with the rest of the group they make their way to Florida. On the journey and at the destination much hilarity, of course, ensues.

The energy shown by the cast never lets up... all performers deserve commendation

It is very easy with the type of humour presented in the play to become complacent of the attention needed in all aspects of its performance, but there appear to be no signs of this in the production. Staging is handled incredibly well and credit here must go to the directors, Tom Philips and Katherine Kennet. Scenes of long dialogue are kept interesting and the pace never slows. Even violent scenes, which in many productions of this kind can appear childish, are handled extremely convincingly. Jonathan Buckley and Mike James’ portrayals of Jerry and Joe respectively must also be mentioned. Cross-dressing and putting on a silly voice is difficult at the best of times, but not only is this managed rather naturally, both actors gave fantastically amusing performances.

However, what really struck me with this play was the entire ensemble’s absolute attention to detail throughout. Not a single lapse in characterisation could be seen throughout the whole performance, and the effort put in here gives the element of believability needed in counterweight the plot’s absurdity. The energy shown by the cast never lets up and for this all performers deserve commendation.

Many more words of praise could be written about this play, but all comments boil down to one simple thing: the play is incredibly entertaining. Nothing has been lost in the transformation of this classic film onto the stage, and ICSM Drama are on to a definite winner.

Some Like It Hot runs from Wednesday 14 – Saturday 17 March in the Union Concert Hall