Bispham CastAways presented their performances of Missing The Mark by Michael Maxwell by arrangement with Off The Wall Plays during a very sad time for the country. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II sadly passed away the evening before the opening night and the group had to make the difficult decision to go ahead with the shows as everything had already been paid for and arranged. A very respectful minute’s silence was held before each show with all audience, cast and crew participating each night. This did mean that audience numbers were below expected but both the audiences did enjoy the show and were laughing along, giving a big ovation both nights.
Missing The Mark followed the exploits of Devon Steele and Ethan Banks, a couple of con artists who set up shop as a production company for a movie with the sole purpose of fleecing prospective actresses out of their hard earned money then doing a runner! Ably assisted by the talented, yet sarcastic temporary assistant, Starla Summers, and with Devon’s believable French accent at the ready, the two set out to ”audition” the possible talent. Unfortunately, one of the ladies who arrived happened to be Devon’s ex-girlfriend, Callia, from whom he’d stolen all her inheritance and she promptly demanded 50% of the money he was going to steal or she would go to the police. She also took a shine to Ethan, whose jittery nerves couldn’t handle her come-ons and he kept fainting! Starla also worked out this was a scam and demanded her pound of flesh to keep quiet. Enter the three they intended to con; Shelly, a complete airhead with no idea what was going on, Alana, who said she was looking for a job seminar at the Church of Scientology, and Mrs Charlene Anderson, who needed a new outlet for her creativity as she’d been banned from going to the movies after keeping jumping up and acting along! It didn’t look like they were going to get much money out of these three…
Wait… what did Mrs Charlene Anderson just say?!? She’s the wife of the multi-billion pound owner of the Happy Hamburger Hut Corporation!! The chances of a big payout just skyrocketed! The play then followed Devon’s attempts to get all her husband’s money… but would he get his comeuppance? Is Ethan really that nervous? What is Alana concealing in her handbag? The twists and turns flowed with the two audiences enjoying every minute, including Shelly’s impression of the Happy Hamburger Hut advert and Charlene’s very interesting audition piece of a mash-up of some of Shakespeare’s most well known lines! It meant that despite the sad times, the audiences, cast and crew all left smiling.
