A Play, A Pie & A Pint finishes its Autumn 2023 Season with a new hilarious farce about blazing bullets, oversized egos and actors behaving like arses. Co-presented by Aberdeen Performing Arts, ‘The Guns of Johnny Bravo’ follows the BBC producing a radio version of the recently discovered spaghetti western script of the same name, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Clint Eastwood classic ‘A Fistful of Dollars’. Things don’t quite go to plan on the recording when old-school actor Jack clashes with his fellow performers – an arrogant but handsome ex-model Kieran, and Milllie, a BAFTA winning actress stuck playing all the poorly written female roles. With clever writing and ingenious use of foley, this production brings much hilarity and ridiculousness.
Matthew Zajac plays the boastful antiquated actor Jack, full of stories from the days of his acting prime. Zajac’s energy drives the plot of this production, causing chaos in and out of the recording booth. Between falling out on the Foley artist and turning the rest of the cast against each other, Zajac brings big laughs to this sharp production.
The audience can’t help but sympathise with Helen Mackay as Millie. A hard-working actor, waitressing between jobs, Millie is stuck playing all the misogynistically written female characters in the wildly western radio play. Mackay plays the role(s) perfectly, hopping in and out of various accents, emphasising the farcicality of the western movie cliches.
The last of this collection of actors is Kieran played by Dylan Blore. A slightly dim young man who seems to be on the road to a very successful acting career, (when questioned by Jack and Millie on future projects he lists Mission Impossible, Fast & Furious and Marvel just to name a few). His lack of awareness and misunderstanding of classic idioms infuriates his cast mates, and Blore does a superb job through his physical and vocal expressions.
Hiding in the background is the Foley Artist, performed by Nik Paget-Tomlinson. With a mixture of panpipes, guitar and a variety of percussion, Tomlinson produces a fantastic soundscape for the radio play. Paired with the cast’s looped murmerings, meows, and moos, the audience are transported into the golden age of wild western movies.
Shilpa T-Hyland has created a compelling production, balancing the egos outside the recording booth and the hilarious absurdities that happen within it to great effect.
Spectacularly written by Phillip Differ, ‘The Guns of Johnny Diablo’ is an amusing blend of witty dialogue and intriguing perspective. Differ concentrates on the ridiculous reality of the acting profession and the comical cliches of the ‘traditional western’.
Jonny Scott and Gemma Patchett have designed a beautiful set; a sound-proof recording booth with a functioning cue light. Littered with props, chairs and microphones, the set and its details are used to their full extent throughout the performance.
This production sings the familiar tune of traditional old westerns of the golden age. While ridiculing the genre’s ideas on the role of women, racial stereotypes, and the farcicality of the wildly dramatic plots, ‘The Guns of Johnny Diablo’ focuses on the comical absurdities of the job of an actor and the egos that come along with it. Alongside its creative use of foley onstage and gun-slinging quick dialogue, this production is not one to miss.
‘The Guns of Johnny Diablo’ is running at The Lemon Tree from the 28th November – 2nd December 2023.
Get your tickets here: https://www.aberdeenperformingarts.com/whats-on/ppp-the-guns-of-johnny-diablo/
Theatre Scotland 
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