VAULT FESTIVAL REVIEW: The Misadventures of David and Sam ★★★★★

The Misadventures of David and Sam
The Pit, Vault Festival
2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd February 2020

Cheap jokes can usually go one of two ways, and quite often results in groans and little appreciation, but what Al Dente Theatre Company have produced is a production which throws bucket loads of the gags, from magic tricks to literal song lyrics acted out, to complete hilarity and characters that you warm to from the constant audience participation making you fully involved with the on stage antics.

Liam Cullen, George Wing, and Michelle Pittoni make up the slick trio on stage who have bundles of energy and charisma with with eachother as David, Sam and Granny. Each bring their own uniqueness and you can tell that they are thriving off their audiences responses; the participation within the magic show segment is genius and the visual puns never feel tiresome. When Cullen and Wing multirole, their posture and mannerisms are quite honestly perfection, with the hint of camp  that would sit perfectly in any episode of EastEnders, with a particular segment on bread rationing involved, whilst Michelle Pittoni also brings a frail but vibrant Granny to life that bounces off her two fellow performers on stage.

The storyline itself also flows with ease, thanks to Isabel Dixon's involvement. There's definitely a sense of freedom for the performers to riff off eachother, and this is especially apparent in a scene which involved Sam mopping back to the farm to reunite with Granny after a failed attempt of joining David in the war goes wrong. This particular segemnt, which involved a lot of weather and season changing, isn't something new to comedy, but Al Dente have put a perfect spin on the idea and push it to the limits which has the audience in hysterics.

Overall, The Misadventures of David and Sam is a complete laugh-a-minute comedy gold production which squashes in more gags than it can handle but somehow effortlessly land and have us smiling the whole way through, right up till we leave the performance space; Al Dente Theatre Company are certainly ones to watch out for in the future, and I truly hope this production has a long run in many future festivals.