How Not To Fund A Honeymoon - The Studio @ TheSpaceTriplex

Gwen and Charlie are getting married. Great. But they can’t afford their dream holiday in the Maldives. Not so great. But it’s okay, because they have a plan. Gwen’s aunt Robyn is wealthy, she has a safe in her kitchen, and she’s on holiday in Corfu. Problem solved. All Gwen and Charlie have to do to break in, open the safe, and secure the goods to fund the holiday. Simple right?

‘How Not To Fund A Honeymoon’ is a three-person short play by Very Rascals Theatrical Productions, and the idea for this dark comedy drama is great, promising a comical tale of two wannabe robbers who don’t quite know what they are doing. And, at first, this is what you think that you are going to get, sort of.

The show opens at the ending, and plays backwards and forwards in a ‘yeah, that’s me, you’re probably wondering how I ended up in this situation’ sort of style. Stephanie Greenwood’s Aunt Robyn oozes glamour and the ‘what will be, will be’ attitude of someone who has more money than they know what to do with. Things need cleaning up, and she knows how to handle the situation. And as we meet Gwen and Charlie (Claire Feuille and Ausette Anderies), we are presented with a young bubbly bickering couple with an interesting and banterish dynamic. The characters are fun, and show great potential, but it is the jumping forwards and backwards in time between the scenes and the writing, which at times appears a little underdeveloped, that lets a promising story down.

We see the robbery begin, then we jump to Aunt Robyn being interviewed by a pair of bumbling policemen who would be more suited to true farce then dark humorous drama. The action then jumps back, and the robbery has taken a unexpected turn that is never fully explained, we never truly find out how they ended up in this situation. With a running time of only 50 minutes, a lot is crammed in and many plot points are never really given the time to breath, to be expanded upon and explained. The last five to ten minutes are a flurry of activity, accusations, confessions and shouting, and whilst it is clear that this is meant to be an exciting action-packed conclusion, it feels hurried and a little confusing. Add to this the fact that props are collected from and deposited back into bags and cardboard boxes that scatter the small stage, the rushed nature of this production can prove a little hap-dash and overwhelming.

‘How Not To Fund A Honeymoon’ is let down by the time period jumping and a sadly underdeveloped script, but the characters are truly interesting and all three have the potential to be really fun and funny, and the idea of a pair of holiday wanting underprepared thieves breaking into a family members home could be really humorous. There are some moments here that are truly funny, and it feels that with a bit more work, this could be a lovely little show that could be really entertaining.