Unfortunately the content of "Bums on Seats", particularly the coarse language, has had to be understandably modified to suit a conservative audience, which leaves it with a watered down feel. Even so, it is a witty, well written piece of theatre, creditably performed by the Galleon cast and crew. Director, Trudy Pearce, has gone for an interesting mix of laid-back natural performance and over-the-top melodramatics. Stage Manager, Karen Winston, starts the show off with some light and sound checks, looking totally at ease in front of an audience, and you are into that strange state of watching a play front and back. The Usherettes keep things rolling as the out-of work actors (sorry, resting artistes) making ends meet working Front of House in the Theatre Royal where the controversial play "Fecund" is running (heavily funded by the local council). Sharmila James and Nyssa Williams are the gushing, touchy-feely "oh, the magic of the theatre" Usherettes, kept in balance by the world weary Wendy, played with precise delivery and dry wit by Cathryn Lever. James and Williams have great exuberance but need to watch their volume and diction as a lot of what they say is lost. Trish Phillips plays Estelle, the voice of sanity in an insane world, and plays it well. She is a particularly good foil for Paul Morton as Benedict Thrush "an actor" in my favourite scene, where Thrush is helping Estelle rehearse her tour speech in a classic "what is my motivation" marathon. Morton is very good and very believable. New to the Adelaide drama scene, and indeed new to the country, I am sure we'll see a lot of him in future productions. Two weeks ago this play was nearly cancelled as actors were dropping like flies. But troupers that amateur thespians are, the show went on, with the director in two roles and actors Tom Anderson and Garth Robson coming in at the last moment. To the rescue! Pearce does a great job as Mo, the Chief Stage Manager. She has a nice, relaxed style that works well for that role. Her Zara Roscoff "an actress" needs a lot more 'oomph' however. She needs to inject a lot more ego into Zara. Ken Callis was called in to choreograph a small opening piece for the play and stayed to play Zara's husband. Their scene together is amusing but should have a lot more fire . After all, this is two actors we're talking about. The arguing stops only to smile for the cameras. The perfect media marriage. Jeff Phillips makes a very enjoyable dissolute playwright, bottle in hand and mind in the bedroom, and Helen Darlington, Mary Cummins and Christine Otto complete this stoic ensemble. The pace isn't perfect, it feels unbalanced and unfinished in sections and the "disinfecting" could do with a rethink as the poor actors on stage don't stand a chance against the upstaging going on among the audience. But "Bums on Seats" is great fun and very close to home if you love theatre. The pretension, the egos, the bravado and the vulnerability of those who chose to live in the land of make-believe is lovingly lampooned. And well done to Galleon for once again proving that life is as strange as fiction and that the reassuring cliche, "It'll be right on the night.", is somehow always true

Snelgrove's occasionally clever, contemporary British play deliberately strips away the mystery of staging a show, and requires the actors to analyse daily life and strife in the theatre. Director Trudy Pearce hasn't the cast or experience to cope with the specific demands of this difficult show, and late cast changes only reinforce the situation. Bums on Seats is a series of sketches exploring the ins and outs and ups and downs of showbiz, linked by three usherettes who change the scene names but should add a lot more to the evening. Galleon patrons would be expecting something very different from a show called Bums on Seats, and the cast work hard but in most cases are not up to the challenge of doing a show about acting. Paul Morton is the main exception. He has the spot-on British accent and the self-critical complex personality that permeate some people in the acting profession. The best scene is when Morton, as the graduated actor feeling the reality bites of his new profession, meets his former drama professor (Tom Anderson) in a genuinely poignant moment that achieves what the playwright is looking for. The worst is a scene where two couples competing for two theatre seats have to compete for attention and focus, with an usherette crawling around tables completely upstaging the dialogue. It's a shame the show never works because the new Domain Theatre is an excellent and versatile space that will host many better outings in the future. Abridged version of this review published in the Guardian Messenger, 27-11-02, p. 51.