AND THEN THERE WERE 3

Written by Craig Alexander and Shelly Higgs Directed by Shelly Higgs

The Street Theatre, 4^th to the 8^th of December 2013

Review by Len Power

‘And Then There Were 3’, described as ‘a quirky comedy’, was developed as part of the Street Theatre’s The Hive program.  Written by the director, Shelly Higgs, and Craig Alexander, who also plays the father, it’s a heartfelt story about a young couple having a baby and learning to look after it.  They haven’t a clue where to start and we also observe the negative impact on their relationship through the stresses and strains that come with starting a family.

The strength of this production is in the design and direction.  It’s pretty much a family-developed show with the clever set and imaginative props as well as costumes and sound all credited to Craig Alexander and Shelly Higgs.  The excellent lighting design by Gillian Schwab adds strongly to the atmosphere and Josh Jones has provided some appealing original music with songs sung mainly by Craig Alexander.

There are good performances from Caroline Simone O’Brien as the mother and Craig Alexander as the father.  It was an inspired decision to have the excellent Raoul Cramer as the baby puppeteer/Greek Chorus/props person.

Some tightening in the writing here and there would help and, even if you argue that these people talk this way, the frequent bad language gets a bit wearing.  The straightforward story could do with a dramatic twist or an angle to make it unique and less predictable.  Nevertheless, it’s a pleasant ninety minutes of adult fun with some universal truths that most people will be able to identify with.

Originally published in Canberra City News on 5 December 2013