The Harbingers: comedy or tragedy?

The Harbingers

With a desire to become a serious actor, Sam Harbinger ended up in the worst contract in show business as a children’s television performer. In an attempt to get out of the business altogether, Harbinger and his sidekick desperately try to get his show cancelled by making it highly inappropriate for young children. But his plan fails and – surprise, surprise - he ends up becoming an even bigger star, but with a whole new crowd.

Despite being advertised as a comedy, The Harbingers by playwright Jim Cunningham would in fact be better described as a tragedy. And if the lack of laughter from the audience was anything to go by, I’d say there is more than one other person who agrees with me. For most of the show, I actually found myself cringing at the jokes that failed miserably or trying to keep my eyes open.

I’d like to say that this is solely due to the actors’ inability to play comedy – but this is not necessarily the case. I’m not convinced there would be all that much improvement even if the script was performed by the best actors in the world. Ok….perhaps that’s a bit harsh.

The cast of three can act quite well, but their execution is inconsistent, and their timing needs some work. The ‘thoughtful pauses’ by the actor who played Sam after nearly every line were excruciatingly painful – far too long and frequent, slowing down any momentum that had been built by the previous lines. Whether this was a technique he was using to increase the mood and tension, or he was simply biding time to recall the next line, it really grated on me and it needs to stop.  I have no doubt it was a large contributor to why a lot of the jokes were lost on the audience.

I felt that the guitar-playing sidekick was the most successful in creating moments of comedy throughout the show, yet his acting was probably the weakest. The other two actors were definitely stronger, but at times their performance seemed forced and unnatural which made the audience disengage.

On a positive note, they managed to do a fair job with the set and costumes, despite the tackiness, and a lot of effort seemed to be put into the making of recorded announcements and sound effects which I did find amusing at times.  

Perhaps I have seen too much theatre in one weekend, and I have become bitter and cynical as a result. But I’d be interested to hear your opinion. The Harbingers – a comedy or tragedy?

The Harbingers is on as part of the Vancouveer Fringe. For more information go here.

By Keira Louis