Connecticut Cabaret Theatre Features Several New Britain Residents
By Robert Held
Staff Writer
The Connecticut Cabaret Theatre is located in Berlin, right next door to New Britain. Several of the shows preformed at the Cabaret Theatre feature actors or crew from New Britain. The Connecticut Cabaret Theatre is currently in its 19th season.
Currently playing every Friday and Saturday night until June 25th, is the British comedy No Sex Please, We’re British. Doors open at 7:15 with the show starting at 8:00pm. Tickets are $30 and attendees are encouraged to bring their own food and drinks, alcohol included.
“For those who buy season tickets, you can pick which date you want to see each show that is playing this year,” said Kris McMurray, owner of the Connecticut Cabaret Theatre to the audience before the show.
While the theater is small, it is a fun intimate environment, where patrons can be sat next to complete strangers, who might just become friends by the end of the night. Sure, it is mostly an older crowd but that does not stop people from sharing bottles of booze together, laughing out loud during funny moments of the show, or even sharing their own comments on the performances during the act.
Perhaps it is the set up of the venue. It looks like the audience is sitting in a large living room complete with several dining tables, small decorations, and cabinets filled with house hold items.
“I had a blast, I did not know what to expect coming in here, but I ended up having a lot of fun,” said Abigail Dagan, a Hamden resident who attended Friday nights show.
No Sex Please, We’re British is a story about a young couple living above a bank which the husband works at. When his wife orders some Scandinavian glassware to make the couple some extra money, the couple ends up getting a lot more with their order then they realized.
It starts with pictures, then videos and finally several books of graphic pornography and it is up to the couple to figure out how to get rid of it while dealing with the husband’s nosy mother, his boss, a visiting bank inspector, a police superintendent, and an overly helpful friend. Oh, and let’s not forget the two hookers who show up at the apartment all before the play reaches its funny ending.
While the play features actors who all must put on British accents, it sounded believable. There were occasional breaks in the accents, especially when the characters were shouting at one another, but it was not to the point of annoyance.
This play was a hit in England’s West End theater district, and it is not hard to see why. Sure, most people might go into a local theater production with low expectations. However, after leaving from the Connecticut Cabaret Theatre’s most recent production the audience just might be pleasantly surprised.
There was roaring laughter, huge applause, and even a standing ovation for the cast at the end of the show especially for the shows main stars Ashley Ayala and Chris Brooks. At points in the show, it was even difficult to hear what was being said on stage because the laughter was so loud.
Yes, the sound, set and lighting all could have been better, and occasionally some of the actors flubbed or sounded like they were improvising a line, but overall for some affordable, local, weekend fun check out the Connecticut Cabaret Theatre in Berlin.
