Nightmare en el Museo - Llanito comedy at its best
Photos by DJD Photography
A laugh a minute would fall short when describing the number of gags from the latest comedy by Nathan Conroy and Michael Prescott, a pair of bumbling paranormal detectives and heroes of the plot. It ran for four sold-out nights last week at Ince’s Hall, I attended the last night, and its reputation for lots of laughs had been well and truly cemented.
It was the best that I have seen from the intrepid comedy duo, who milked every scene and every gag till our sides were splitting. They were not alone, with a strong cast and distinguished guests, they parodied our Llanito language (dialect?) and culture, not forgetting our prehistory, as the museum was their playground in the ghostly plot.
Strange events and disappearances at the museum have prompted Government to investigate where a few tourists and our tenor Nathan Pallas have gone, after last being seen during a guided tour visit to the museum. Simple? Yes - but the reality is spookily complex and hilariously challenging, when a Scotland Yard investigation is launched in parallel with Mike and Nath’s top-secret investigation to save the day and restore the good name of Gibraltar.
Time travel, tasers, monkey contraband, song and dance numbers, orbs and a mummy complete the mayhem through sheer physical comedy and many clever gags which had the audience in stitches for close on two hours.
There were a number of backdrop video clips which were important and lost a bit of sound clarity due to the high position of the loudspeakers, but they portrayed the action inside the museum effectively.
Costumes were colourful and added to the choreography, especially in the Arabian court of the Caliph.
The song and dance numbers were superb and are credited to Nathan Conroy, with music production help from Ian Risso, Chris Calderon and John Mascarenhas.
The special guests who were sitting in the audience were invited onstage for curtain call and the loud acclaim from the audience was well deserved.
This is a production that was previously stalled by health problems and kickstarted again when good health prevailed. Not an easy hurdle to overcome, but the cast did so with flying colours and they gave their all to a great script dripping with comedy and good direction from the writers.
Nathan Conroy and Michael Prescott are a brand who have established themselves as pillars of Llanito comedy and we look forward to their next production.
Well done all involved and the sponsors who supported them in this hilarious adventure.
CAST
The splendid cast headed by our comedy duo, starred Andy Coumbe as Inspector Parker, Tony Loddo as Johnny Cagow the security guard and caveman, Jessy Scruton as Lourdes the receptionist, Mario Prescott as Albertito the caretaker, caveman and Rappel, Kenneth Cardona as Stephen the tour guide, Jarod Vass as American tourist, cadet bob and caveman, Nathan Payas as himself, Henry and Priscilla Sacramento as tourists and Arabian Caliph and wife, Jamie Robba as debt collector, caveman, Arabian guard and the mummy, Simo Hamdame as tourist and Arabian waiter, Leslie Grima as debt collector, Italian tourist and el Choco, Thea Scruton White as American tourist, Jason Mesilio as el Besugo and Arabian performer, Cathy Federico as American tourist and Arabian dancer, Joelle Montegriffo and Esha Malkani Modasia as Arabian dancers, and special guests Dr John Cortes, Professors Clive and Geraldine Finlayson, Lionel Chipolina and Kevin Ruiz.
