Special Agent Dick Barton travels to a valley in the USA this Christmas for his ninth adventure. Accompanied by his sidekick Snowy White and beset by an array of mishaps, Dick’s task is to avert a global financial meltdown. In keeping with the slapstick, schoolboy humour that the Warehouse Theatre’s long-running series is renowned for, Philip Ives and Kit Benjamin offer a naughty rather than risqué parody of the 1940s radio series. The opening scene is laden with puns and innuendo, but the stifled giggles are short-lived as the tone and humour become rather monotonous.
Although well spaced, Ives’s musical numbers leave no lasting impression which for a musical is unfortunate. Instead, it’s the energetic cast who make the most impact, as they switch between playing multiple characters and musicians. Matt Bannister plays the unflappable hero entertainingly, whilst Annabelle Brown’s vocals are particularly impressive.
Ives and Benjamin have cleverly fused this classic character with a topical plotline, but this episode lacks real gusto and Barton enthusiasts may leave disappointed. At two and a half hours, this production needs more than a fistful of Barton to keep the laughter going. It needs a bucketful.