Cast of Soap Opera have audience in stitches (From Swindon Advertiser)

Wyvern Theatre audience cheer cast of Soap Opera

1:31pm Wednesday 19th September 2012 in News

EVERYONE knows the best soap storylines feature a whodunnit.
From who shot Phil Mitchell - and JR for that matter - to who killed Den Watts (for the second time, we all know the daffodils were to blame the first time around) every loves a good mystery and seeing which characters are put in the frame.
 

And in Soap Opera, which is set around the fictional soap of Hollyenders Street, you get all of that - plus a brilliant send up of all we love, or hate, about soaps.
 

Looking at the cast list, whose stars include Leslie Grantham (Eastenders), Michelle Gayle (Eastenders), Graham Cole (The Bill), Louis Emerick (Brookside), Lee Otway (Hollyoaks) and Hattie Hayridge (Red Dwarf) you would be forgiven for thinking this was a production full of washed up former stars trying to eek out their careers.
 

That couldn’t be further from the truth. The calibre of soap stardom between the group is only surpassed by their willingness, and brilliance, in sending up everything that they appeared to take so seriously on-screen in the past.
 

There are plenty of in-jokes for soap fans (which reach across a wide range of soaps past and present) as well as jokes for those who only watch ‘Enders and Corrie under duress.
 

Each of the cast, which also included Kev Orkian, Laura Jane Matthewson and Robert Pearce, embodied their role perfectly and sent up the characteristic well and every member of the audience around me was laughing throughout the production.
 

Tonight is your last chance to catch the show at the Wyvern before it moves on to its next venue. If you miss it you are missing out on a real treat - whether you are a soap fan or not.