HIGH DIVING

James Cairns and Toni Morkel impress with a large number of characters in absorbing play. (Review by Caroline Smart)

High Diving is a new play by Jenine Collocott with original music by Nick Warren and Andrew Ord. It involves the use of shadow puppetry and a list of about 12 characters. With Deborah Da Cruz and Roberto Pombo playing the young lovers, the task falls to veteran actors James Cairns and Toni Morkel to produce the rest of the roles!

Do they deliver? They certainly do – to impressive effect in a flurry of rapid costume changes.

The other characters range from the young man’s Afrikaans parents (father volatile, mother seeking solace in the bottle) to the girl’s slightly vague English mother and her persistent suitor, as well as her flashy aunt and her sexually-charged husband plus their monosyllabic son. Then there are the fast-talking cynical employers to whom they apply for jobs, a long-suffering man on the train and the young man’s none-too-bright friend. James Cairns’ comedy timing is impeccable, every nuance perfectly placed and it’s a joy to watch him perform.

High Diving relies heavily on the shadow play and puppets. Constructed by well-known puppet maker Janni Younge, these provide poignant imagery for the title of the play. – Caroline Smart