Despite the no-show of the BATS Dome lighting board, which crashed an hour before starting time (we are only told this at the end of the show), the brave cast of SKWERT – Elliott Lam, Keegan Thomas, Lily Catastrophe, Q Potts, Mo Munn, Aaron Douglas – and Tech operator (Lila Black, of sound and AV only, this time) have ‘boxed on’ on to bring what’s left of SKWERT: The Reunion to their well-disposed second night audience.

Is it fair, in these circumstances, to review a show that bills itself as “a chaotic blend of parody, live music and theatrical farce”? Well, while lively lighting for the musical numbers and the OMG surprise moments would doubtless add production value, the central core is the relationship story of a reuniting ‘boy band’. That should stand on its own. The AV projections, however (created by Elliott Lam, I assume) add lots of colourful spectacle to the scenography.  

There is much enthusiastic ‘in character’ welcoming of audience arrivals from the ensemble. They chat to us individually in our seats. Some hand out bunches of glow sticks. A shifty type, in a long coat and dark glasses, slips folded notes to each of us while pretending not to … I look forward to seeing what the payoff will be.

They are all wearing what look like radio mics – mini pompom wind muffs on thin sparkly silver rods – but they turn out to be toys. Some voices are equal to Finn McKinlay’s recorded music, others not so much. Some sing true, others not so much. When they launch into their signature song, ‘SKWERT’, complete with water pistols, and I guess it’s only to be expected that they haven’t yet quite got their act back together. But improvement is not part of the dramatic structure.

The premise is promising: in the wake of the tragic death of their leader, Scott (Aaron James Douglas), a couple of years ago, Ecko has brought the remaining band members – Locke, Enya, Reece and Yuri – together in an attempt to reunite the band for one last world tour in his honour. It may be a spoiler to say how Scott lost his life; let’s just say it was at sea and involved the Titanic. Meanwhile, each member went their separate ways.  

Yuri (Keegan Thomas), ‘The Mental One’, who went to Japan but became addicted to drugs and has returned. Locke (Q Potts), ‘The Bad Boy’, has spent time in prison and is trying to recoup his losses with ‘merch’. Enya (Lily Catastrophe), ‘The Genius’, has been developing her solo career and isn’t sure about rejoining a group. Reece (Mo Munn), ‘The Baby’, cast aside his wholesome image and fell into depravity. Ecko, ‘the hot one’, had a solo career but got cancelled for plagiarism …  

Everyone is credited with writing the show so I assume they’ve each contributed their back stories, which emerge amid the somewhat messy attempt to get reformed as a band. A brand new song, ‘In Memorium’ – or is it ‘In Memorandum’ – mentions a submersible in an unmerciful sea. And here’s where we discover (spoiler alert), Ecko has now plagiarised Scott himself – as an AI Bot! But he’s dysfunctional as gets carted off.

Locke’s energy drink, Pyss, splendidly manifested at the Merch counter, gets an anthemic advertising song. Yuri falls off the proverbial wagon and has a ‘white face’ moment. They attempt to unite with a song:
  No matter if you’re left or right
  Time for us to all unite …

Scott returns as an AI Polygram, wanting to know, “Who murdered me?” If they don’t come up with an answer in 10 minutes, the consequences will be dire (the one suggested could be improved on, imho). Given Scott’s assertion that anything they can do, he can do better (shades of Annie Get Your Gun there?), Enya suggests they destroy him by coming up with a better song than the Scott bot could write.

Is the murderer and motive revealed? Does ‘I Want to SKWERT Forever’ have the desired effect? You’ll have to see it to find out.

By way of noting how clever the script gets, there are some banger lines – e.g: “Humans don’t kill boy band members, balconies do”; “I never thought messing with AI would have such dire consequences” (for those who like puns), and “You trusted my life to a billionaire?”

The afore-mentioned well-disposed audience offers hearty applause, not least in sympathy for what they’ve achieved despite the technical issues. Some flock to the Merch table … and I look at the glow sticks and folded note in my hands and wonder what they were about.  

It has to be said the play’s potential has yet to be realised. A designated playwright might bring all the backstories and present action components together into a more coherent and better-structured whole. A Director might not only ensure the script ‘sings’ on stage but would work with the actors – who are all experienced stand-up comics – on how to ‘be’ their characters in convincing relationships with each other. That plus some rigorous musical directing could make all the difference.

As it is, I leave BATS contemplating what SKWERT: The Reunion could become.  

Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer