Mulligan’s Island

sb & me productions—John Hirsch Mainstage

This take-off on Gilligan’s Island centers around a plot twist that finds singer Kay Dee Pairy on the island to film a music video, with the island’s headhunters having other ideas for her.

Unfortunately, this play seems to be put on by a church group, so anything edgy or violent is verboten, rendering the execution of their own narrative so muddy it creates confusion all around, along with a meandering second half. The cast never seems to get in the pocket, either.

Their effort and perkiness, along with some decent writing, some sharp clean jokes and the show’s musical numbers (with some Katy Perry lyrics cleverly rewritten), save the show, however—even if the songs just stop out of nowhere, with no ending after one verse and chorus.

Maybe the cast needed that crated lion that washed ashore in a Gilligan episode to truly scare and inspire them. Kay Dee, too, if all this jungle-ness is what inspired the Roar video.

Beau Hajavitch