Being able to count the number of times I have seen Coronation Street on one hand, and only remembering a time when someone pushes someone down the stairs, I am going into Coro with no character knowledge or preconceived ideas of what to expect. Is this advantageous or detrimental? I am sure to find out.

Mon Platon Productions is made up of the dynamic comedy duo Nina Hogg (Ginge & Minge, Two Girls One Gun, PopRox) and Austin Harrison (Proud Dad, PopRox, Ungartered Territory) who are both renowned in the Welly comedy scene for their various comedy endeavours.

Tonight they are giving us five episodes of Coro in 55 minutes and nine characters between them.

As audience member enter The Studio and sit down, most are given random props such as clothing or wigs by Harrison and Hogg with the instructions to chuck the item/s at them when they yell a character’s name. I am intrigued as to how this is going to play out.

They introduce themselves and let us know this is the debut of Coro destined for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. We are informed that yes there are notes on the walls, and yes they will be unashamedly using them.

The show begins with the classic Coro theme tune ‘sung’ (I use that term loosely) by Harrison and Hogg and the audience members who know it join in, before we are thrust into the tragedy that will be the base storyline of the storylines to come.

The first 10 minutes help to establish the six main characters and their relationships, and as a non-Coro watcher this is integral to my being able to understand the show. Harrison and Hogg execute it very well so I am not at all confused.

We meet Shopkeeper Barry, W-Rovers pub owner Nita, teenage couple Flo and Donald – and Flo’s parents, husband and wife Gaylene and Ken. Their different accents are on point, the props are being thrown back and forth in hilarious chaos as the characters rapidly change, and the sexual innuendos are rampant.

Each new episode is made clear by the theme song which I am now singing (waahing) along with the rest of the audience. This is a great way to keep everyone following along, as well as getting audience participation.

Throwing the props to Harrison and Hogg has its hiccups as the scenes intensify and the pace picks up, with a wig on upside down at one point, and confusion over which characters are in what scenes (off to the notes wall they go) but this does not take anything away from the show and adds to the hilarity. There is also a break in character as Harrison finds a prop on stage that he needs for his scene and says “Stall, Nina” but once again it makes it funny and we all know this is the debut and to expect things like this.

There is one slip up on an accent but this is where their expert improv skills come into play and it becomes a funny anecdote about Kiwi cousins. Speaking of improv skills, Harrison and Hogg’s comfortableness with each other shows as there are parts in the show where I am genuinely not sure if the teasing of each other or their seeming to be confused/frazzled at things are actually scripted or just randomly added with such ease that it seems deliberate.

After the show I asked actual Coronation Street fans from the audience if the characters were accurate, was it obvious who they were parodying. Everyone said yes and agreed they were brilliant. Equally the people like me who have little or no Coro knowledge enjoyed it and thought the characters were extremely funny and well played, which is a definite win for Mon Platon.

Coro is hilarious, fast paced (which is where it differs from actual Coronation Street), full of audience participation but not the cringey kind, and I would love to see it again after it’s had a few shows to iron out its opening night wrinkles.

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It’s not often I’m bemused by a performance, but I have to admit that I am by the first night of Coro, at BATS’ Studio. Featuring comedic stalwarts Austin Harrison and Nina Hogg, who’ve been working together for seven years since their days at Victoria University, Coro is a take on that long-running TV favourite Coronation Street.

For those unversed, Coronation Street is an English soap opera that premiered in the 1960s and is still going. It’s based on the lives and work of folk in a street in Manchester and makes drama out of their personal and professional situations and problems. While it was family fodder before I left home, featuring the likes of Ena Sharples and Ken Barlow as a student, I have to confess I haven’t watched a complete episode for more than fifty years.

Co-writer Hogg explains that what we’re about to see is a performance in development. There are script reminders on the walls – and oh! audience participation, reframed by Hogg as audience responsibility.

But back to my bemusement. Coro’s action consists of at the fast-moving presentation of a series of scenarios involving characters no doubt long familiar to frequent viewers. I recognise a couple. However, the episodic nature of the show – albeit enhanced by uniquely managed costume changes – results in the kind of mayhem that’s enthusiastically applauded by most present. But it has the downside of being – well – episodic.  

That said, there is a discernible story line and a denouement.

For me, the delights of this performance arise from its sheer theatricality, and the skill and versatility of its two players. Our Harrison and Hogg take nine roles between them, effortlessly achieving the character changes involved. Audience participation raises lots of laughs and is paramount in ensuring the general ongoing mayhem, the wall mounted production notes are endearingly consulted, and Manchester accents are marvellously maintained.

Hogg and Harrison (Mon Platon Productions) have co-written the show, and Lyla Meihana-Black is technical operator. Like me, some audiences will delight in such a cleverly written parody – and for Coronation Street fans, Coro will pack a helluva punch!

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