Probably one of the shortest place I've ever seen, and one
of the funniest ones I have witnessed, ‘Bakersfield Mist’ is a production
that's a must see. The play has been written by Stephen Sachs and conveys a
woman's desire to earn lots of money and you have her claim to fame in finding
a rare piece of artwork that has been missing for a long while. Set in a dirty
caravan/trailer park in Bakersfield, California introduces us to only two
characters, Maude a middle-aged woman who is craving for some attention from the
world that seems to be missing the point is convinced that a piece of art she recently
purchased is the real canvas of Abstract Expressionist artist, Jackson Pollock.
On your other hand, when she invites an arts connoisseur from New York, who she
hopes could prove it’s the original is displayed by his unpleasing evaluation
of the painting. The characters in this production have been wonderfully
constructed by Sachs as the juxtaposition between a drinker, chain-smoking and
quite frankly undesirable woman to be well dressed, knowledgeable and
pretentious art expert , Lionel were very well thought of and the dialogue is
incredibly comical. It’s definitely not lacking in that department whatsoever.
The themes are that also very engaging too. I thought that the characters
backgrounds were vastly realistic, this is due to the fact ‘Bakersfield Mist’
is based on actual events. Sachs has done a successful job here. I must express
this is the year where the play is overtaking the musical genre, as the plays’
have a more emotive and comical concept and are extremely more original. This
performance is just as amusing as ‘Jeeves & Wooster in Perfect Nonsense’
where there is a limited company also. They performances by a miniscule company
of ‘Bakersfield Mist’ were fantastic during the entire production. Kathleen
Turner is outstanding as the atrocious fame-seeking Maude. I particularly liked
the scenes where she would try to use alcohol to make the art expert sign the
form, claiming it's the real Pollock. She was incredibly funny indeed. Ian
McDiarmid is stunning as the quite snobbish art connoisseur Lionel. I found that
his facial expressions when he looked at the fake painting were very comical
from beginning to end. Excellent performances all round. Polly Teale's
direction is sublime as she's been able to capture the essences of life that
needs improvement, which reminded me of Imelda Staunton in ‘Good People’. Tom
Piper's design is extraordinary as you become immersed into this story. I did
have an enjoyable experience and one that you should enjoy too.
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