REVIEW: MI$FORTUNE at Golden Goose Theatre 18 - 22 April 2023

‘a tight, energetic set of performances that told a sad story with compassion, but hit a plethora of comic beats’ ★★★ ½

In 1997, a devoutly religious Texan who worked in a Home Depot store won $31,000,000 in the Texas State Lottery. Two years later, Billie Bob Harrell Jr. killed himself in the house his wife had obtained in their divorce settlement. He was broke.

Aaron-Lee Eyles and his Unmarked Theatre Company have dramatised this unhappy story in a 60 minute ensemble performance with lots of songs and lots of sparkle, and by and large they’ve done a very creditable job of it. They’ve certainly made it a lively and entertaining evening. There is, for instance, the quite magnificent operatic singing of Linseigh Green and the whirling energy of Thomas Crichton, relishing his multi-role moments with eye-catching, very funny performances. It is left to Matthew Metcalfe and Grace Price to fill the roles of Billie-Bob and Barbara-Jean Harrell, and inject some pathos and sympathy into the proceedings, which is a hard task. There is a mismatch between the whirligig fun of many of the scenes, and the awful spectacle of Billie-Bob descending into poverty and depression, lost to his home, his family, his beliefs, and short of $31,000,000, which is an achievement but not a good one.

The writer has directed his own work, which may in part explain the sense of two different plays running side-by-side – a singalong fantasia and a fairly serious depiction of a domestic tragedy. The company managed both styles with grace and energy, but I’d have liked one or the other, not both.

This was a tight, energetic set of performances that told a sad story with compassion, but hit a plethora of comic beats. A company to watch out for.

Produced by Unmarked Theatre

Twitter @UnmarkedT

Reviewed by Chris Lilly