Pockets
Reviewed by Stephen Fife
Robot Teammate at the Hollywood Fringe Festival
Through June 29
RECOMMENDED
This is the tenth year of the Hollywood Fringe, and it’s hard to believe that the musical comedy collective Robot Teammate was not there at day one. That’s how synonymous their work has become with the best the Fringe has to offer. Timeheart, Thug Tunnel and Turbulence are their previous Fringe productions. Their offering this year is Pockets, subtitled “An Original British-ish Musical.”
The show begins outside the theater, where actors dressed as 19th century British townspeople wish audience members a “Happy Crumpets Day” as we enter the venue. Soon we find ourselves in Crumpeton, a faux-Dickensian British town with faux-Dickensian British townspeople singing about “Crumpets Day,” their biggest day of the year. The townsfolk all carry baking implements and regale us in song about the pride they take in their crumpets. Until suddenly they realize that their utensils have disappeared — they’ve been robbed mid-song by an arch-criminal whom they name “Pockets.”
The scene then changes to the home of the Duchess of Crumpeton (Kat Primeau), her husband Barkly St. Piggins (Dave Reynolds) and their 13-year-old daughter Bellamina (Molly Dworsky). This family is the one percent of the town, and the Duchess can’t wait to take the ceremonial bite of the first crumpet — in fact, she’s obsessed, which we get from the way she sings about it and ignores everything else, including her daughter. Soon we hear from that daughter, Bellamina, who sings about how much she hates Crumpet Day! Hates it so much, she confesses, that she is Pockets the master thief, and her purpose is to destroy Crumpet Day.
Pockets soon teams up with the Resistance in Crumpeton, who have similar goals. However, their hatred of her mother is beyond anything that Bellimina/Pockets can go along with, and she has to decide whether to participate in the humiliation of the Duchess or not.
The hour-long musical that ensues is a combination of Oliver! and Les Miserables, borrowing from and satirizing both. The songs by Branson NeJame are knowledgeable and witty and always fun to listen to. The core ensemble of Robot Teammate is all wonderful — Dworsky, Reynolds, Primeau and especially Chris Bramante as Veegan, a master thief on the order of Fagan in Oliver Twist. His singing and dancing have never been better, and he makes every moment that he is a part of count. Dworsky is also consistently funny and provides the emotional heart of the show.
This is a well-conceived and entertaining production, if occasionally a bit slick. My only caveat is that it doesn’t really have any other objective than to be entertaining. That’s fine — but I do come to a Robot Teammate show with higher expectations. I recall Thug Tunnel as a more disturbing and rough-edged show; it had an underlying anger and angst which this one lacks. On the other hand, I think the songs in Pocket are better constructed and more enjoyable, and the performances more polished. Still, it faded fast from my memory, while Thug Tunnel has stayed with me.
The Broadwater, 1076 Lillian Way, Hollywood; Sat., Jun. 29, 3 p.m.; through Jun. 29. https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/5994. Running time: one hour with no intermission.
