When a film as perfect as Mel Brooks’s Young Frankenstein exists, you might well be forgiven for asking what need is there for a live version? As the opening night of this production hysterically demonstrated, the possibility for chaos thanks to the ephemeral nature of live theatre is reason enough.
That ephemerality created a sequence of events that saw: a cast member (Simeon Truby as Inspector Kemp) join the audience to watch the show, a stage manager announce there would be a pause in the action – leaving Inspector Kemp ad-libbing for all he was worth – and then another member of stage management arrive to tell the audience, “just wait here and … entertain yourselves”. Someone did eventually remember a cast member had been left adrift and Truby was rescued. Then we were told that Inga (Julie Yammanee) had suffered an injury and that Jessica Wright, from the ensemble, would be stepping into Inga’s shoes. Within minutes she performed an astoundingly accomplished tap dance routine. What other medium gives you such moments?
